


I will love you (with every single thing I have)

by agr130



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:13:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 28,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24327850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agr130/pseuds/agr130
Summary: AU: Amy Santiago is an elementary school teacher, and a single mother of a 9 year old daughter. Jake Peralta is a police officer at the 99th precinct. Their paths cross- coincidentally it seems, at first. But life seems to be throwing them together, and they just might end up falling in love.
Relationships: Amy Santiago & Original Character(s), Gina Linetti & Amy Santiago, Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago, Rosa Diaz & Jake Peralta
Comments: 146
Kudos: 226





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first multi-chapter fanfiction! I'm really excited about it. I hope you all enjoy. Thank you for reading!  
> Title from 'Atlas: Two' by Sleeping at Last.

“Everyone please remember that your vocabulary quiz is tomorrow! Have a great day, and I’ll see you tomorrow,” Amy said after the dismissal bell had rung.

The sound of chairs scraping against the floor and backpacks zipping closed filled the classroom, and a chorus of “Bye Ms. Santiago!” rang out as 20 fifth graders filed out the door. She picked up the papers from the hand-in bin that had piled up throughout the day, put them in her folder, and slid that carefully into her bag. She changed the date on the whiteboard to tomorrow’s, and erased the vocabulary words they had reviewed after lunch. 

“Hi mom!” A voice called out. 

Amy turned around to see her daughter walking into her classroom, her pink backpack over her shoulders, and her hands clutching a book. 

“Hi Gabriella. How’s my favorite fourth grader?” Amy smiled, bending down to kiss the top of her head.

“Good,” Gabriella giggled. “We learned how to add fractions today!”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah! It’s so much fun. We don’t have any homework though,” Gabriella frowned. “Could you tell my teacher to give us some tomorrow?”

Amy laughed. It really was like staring into a mirror. “I don’t think the other kids in your class would appreciate that.”

“I guess not. I don’t understand why though. I love homework,” She sighed, plopping down into her mom’s rolling desk chair and cracking open her book. 

“I just need to clean the desks and then we can go home,” Amy told her, and opened a container of Clorox wipes. 

She prided herself on keeping a very clean, and organized classroom. There was a big bookshelf in one corner, with a rug and bean bag chairs. She wanted to encourage her students to read, so she allowed them to take any book they wanted, as long as they brought it back. There was a hand-in bin for homework and tests, and a set of drawers filled with all the school supplies they could ever need, like paper, pencils, and erasers. The walls were decorated with string lights, and fake plants, and motivational posters. It wasn’t a huge classroom, but it felt like a second home to Amy.

“Alright baby, are you ready to go?” She asked her daughter, who nodded in response, not taking her eyes off of her book. 

They walked out into the hot, late August sun, and set off on their five minute walk back to their apartment. Amy frowned as she noticed Gabriella walking with her nose still buried in her book. 

“Gabi, I really wish you wouldn’t walk and read at the same time. It isn’t safe,” She scolded lightly.

“I thought you were supposed to be encouraging kids to read,” Gabriella pointed out, looking up at Amy through her glasses. 

“I am, and I do, when they’re  _ stationary _ ,” Amy laughed.

“I’m really good at walking and reading though. I don’t need to see where I’m going. I’m like a dolphin using echolocation!” Gabi exclaimed, turning back to her book.

“I appreciate the dolphin knowledge, but-” Amy began, only to stop short when her book obsessed daughter smacked right into someone- and a police officer, no less.

“I’m so sorry! I’m sorry officer!” Gabriella cried, hiding halfway behind Amy.

“I’m really sorry about that. I was just in the middle of reprimanding her for not looking where she was going,” Amy apologized, running a hand through the girl’s dark, wavy ponytail as she clutched her mom’s waist.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it,” The police officer smiled. Amy noticed that his smile was big, and his eyes seemed warm, and genuine. “Must have been a good book, huh?”

Gabriella nodded, letting go of Amy and stepping toward him with a little more confidence.

“Whatcha reading?” He asked.

“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I finished Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone yesterday,” She told him.

“Ahh, good choice. I like Harry Potter,” The cop said, smiling again. Amy couldn’t help but smile back.

“You’ve read it?” Gabi asked excitedly.

“Well, no… but I’ve seen the movies!” He said.

She squinted a little, her lips forming a tight line. “You really should read the books.”

He laughed at the girl’s sudden seriousness, but paused when his walkie-talkie crackled, and someone’s voice came through it. 

“Hey, I gotta go. But maybe I’ll read those books sometimes. It was nice meeting you…” He trailed off, realizing he never got their names.

“Amy, and this is Gabriella. It was nice meeting you too…” Amy also trailed off.

“Peralta. Uh, Jake,” He shook his head, suddenly nervous as he was talking to the woman that was, he couldn’t deny, very beautiful. “Jake Peralta.”

“Well, it was nice to meet you Jake Peralta,” Amy said, meeting his eyes in silence for a beat.

He waved, and walked past them, as Gabi called out, “Sorry again for bumping into you!”

The mother and daughter continued their walk back home, and Amy was too lost in thought to even turn the experience into a lesson of why you should watch where you’re going. 

“He was nice,” Gabi pointed out after a few minutes of silence.

“Yeah, yeah he was,” Amy agreed, her mind wandering back to his brown curls and doe eyes.

“I’m glad he didn’t arrest me,” The 9-year-old followed up.

“What? Honey, you can’t get arrested for accidentally bumping into a police officer,” Amy chuckled as she pushed open the door to their apartment building.

“I just didn’t want anything to go on my permanent record!”

Amy just laughed and shook her head, walking over to the elevator and pushing the button. 

When they got off, Gina Linetti, Amy’s best friend who lived three doors down from them was fumbling with her keys by her front door. Like Amy, Gina was also a 5th grade teacher at Brooklyn Gardens Elementary School, but she biked to and from work, so she always got home just before Amy and Gabriella.

“Hey nerds,” Gina called, waving with the hand that wasn’t holding her keys.

“Hi Aunt Gina!” Gabi greeted back before reopening Harry Potter. “Mom, the door. Also, Aunt Gina said hi.”

Amy blinked and stood alert, grabbing her keys from her purse and realizing that she had been staring at the wall, totally spaced out. “Sorry, sorry. Hi.” 

She quickly opened the front door, and Gina walked over, giving her a look that was reserved for when Amy was “acting weirder than usual,” in Gina’s words.

“Gabi, go ahead inside, your mom will be in in a minute,” Gina said. 

“What?” Amy asked.

But Gabriella just nodded, and flopped on the couch, her mind still at Hogwarts as she turned the page of her book.

Gina closed the door and stepped closer to Amy. “I know that look.”

“What?” Amy repeated. “I don’t- I don’t have a look.”

“You’re blushing,” Gina countered.

“It’s just the sun!”

“Ames. C’mon. Was there a cute guy, perhaps?”

“I mean… there was a guy, but I didn’t notice if he was cute, necessarily. Gabi bumped into a police officer because she was doing that walking and reading thing that’s super dangerous, and he was really nice about it. And I guess, his eyes were kind of nice, and his smile was friendly but that’s it! He was just nice, is all,” Amy rambled, gazing down at the floor.

“Wow, love at first sight,” Gina sighed dramatically, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead as if about to faint.

“No, not love at first sight! This is not the Hallmark channel. Like I said, he was just nice.”

“Okay, yeah, ‘nice,’ is code for love at first sight,” Gina stated, like it was the most obvious fact in the world.

Amy let out a frustrated breath. “It’s not code for anything. It just means he was nice.”

Gina shook her head. “Denial is the first stage of love.”

“Grief. It’s the first stage of grief,” Amy retorted. 

“Same thing, really. I gotta go grade some papers. Love you!” Gina said, walking down the hall to her apartment. “Have fun dreaming of mystery man tonight.”

Amy shook her head in disbelief. “Love you too.”

Of course, Amy hadn’t stopped thinking about Jake since their short conversation. But she figured she would never really see him again, so there was no use talking about him to anyone else.

She pushed open the front door, and set out her laptop and folders on the kitchen table so she could start entering homework grades into the system. 

And somehow her mind kept wandering back to Officer Jake Peralta. 

Meanwhile, back at Brooklyn’s 99th Precinct, Officer Rosa Diaz was looking at Jake with a similar look that Gina had given Amy.

“Jake, are you listening?” She asked, snapping her fingers in front of his face.

“Huh? Yeah, of course,” He replied, looking away from his computer screen.

“Then what did I just say?” Rosa challenged him as she leaned against his desk.

“Um, something about a bad guy?” Jake guessed, smiling his best ‘I’m-cute-please-don’t-be mad-at-me’ smile. 

“Not even close. Captain Holt wants you to clean your desk because he said, and I quote, ‘It upsets me greatly to look at.’” 

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense,” Jake said, looking at the clutter and askew papers that covered his desk.

“What’s going on with you man? You keep zoning out,” Rosa asked. 

Jake took a deep breath. “I met this girl and her mom today. Amy. That was the mom’s name. She was really pretty. I kind of can’t stop thinking about her.”

“You should have gotten her number.”

“I mean, we only talked for a couple minutes, and her daughter was with her and…”

“And you chickened out?” Rosa said, eyebrows raised.

“Little bit. It’s fine,” He shrugged, trying to play it off. 

Rosa gave him a pat (more like a slap, really,) on the back, and walked back to her desk. 

Jake tried to focus on making his desk look less atrocious, but the image of Amy and her soft smile and pretty hair kept popping up in his mind. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 2! Thank you to everyone who commented on/gave kudos to/read the first chapter!!!

It was a Sunday afternoon, and Gabriella was at her friend Charlotte’s house, which meant Amy would be sitting at her desk for the majority of the afternoon, grading vocabulary quizzes and preparing lessons for the upcoming week. 

She sat down, only to realize that her eyes were heavy with sleep and that she would need caffeine to get through the day. She opted to go to her favorite coffee shop, which was only a short walk away. One of Amy’s favorite things about living in the city was how close everything was. She could walk pretty much everywhere, and if she really needed to, she could take the subway or a cab somewhere. 

Just as she was leaving the coffee shop, iced coffee in hand, she did a double take. Sitting at a table, staring at his phone, in uniform, was Jake.

Amy froze for a minute, unsure if she should say hi. She certainly wanted to, but she’s worried he won’t remember her, or he’ll think she’s creepy. Before she can even make a decision, Jake is calling out, “Amy?”

A little embarrassed that he probably noticed her staring, she waved timidly and walked over to him. 

“Are you following me?” He asked.

“What? No, no. I’m so sorry, it must seem that way, I just really like their coffee and-”

“Relax,” Jake laughed. “I’m just messing with you.”

“Oh, right,” She chuckled nervously, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. She’s suddenly self conscious of her leggings and plain t-shirt. She wished she had at least put on jeans.

“How are you?” He asked, and gestured for her to sit down across from him.

“I’m good. Just getting ready to grade papers. Nothing too exciting,” Amy shrugged, while taking the seat. “How about you?”

“Same. Well, I’m not getting ready to grade papers. Just that I’m good,” It was his turn to be nervous now. “Are you a teacher?”

“I am. Fifth grade.”

“Cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool…” He laughed awkwardly, eyes downcast at the table. “I’m on duty right now, just needed some coffee.”

“Their coffee is my favorite.”

“Yeah, it’s really good,” Jake agreed.

The conversation lulled to a silence, and Amy stared at her coffee, wishing she was better at this kind of thing. She had always been a bit shy around people she didn’t know, especially attractive guys. Jake usually knew just what to say to women, but he was  _ nervous _ around her. More nervous than he had been in front of a woman in a long time. 

“I should probably go,” Amy spoke, suddenly, and way too loudly. Several people around them turned to give her disapproving looks. “Uh, sorry. It was nice talking to you,” She said, quieter this time.

“You too. Have a good day,” Jake smiled, waving at her as she walked out the door. He cursed himself internally for yet again not asking for her number. 

Amy walked back to her apartment, at a much quicker pace than normal. She was fueled not only by caffeine, but by the adrenaline and nervousness from that conversation. She hadn’t wanted to tell Gina about her interaction with Jake a few days ago, because she figured she would never see him again. But she had, in fact, seen him again, and what if she saw him another time?

By the time she got off of the elevator, she was practically buzzing, and rapidly knocked on Gina’s apartment door.

“Come in!” Gina called.

Amy opened the door, and found Gina perched on her couch. She had her laptop open, a glass of Rosé in one hand, and a zebra striped blanket thrown across her lap.

“You’re going to get robbed one of these days if you don’t check who’s at the door,” Amy pointed out, setting her purse on the kitchen counter.

“Please, I knew it was you. No one else knocks with that much nervous energy,” Gina explained. “Now what’s up?”

Amy took a deep breath, and sat down on the couch next to Gina, crossing her legs. “Remember that police officer I told you about?”

Gina raised her eyebrows, and closed her laptop. “Yes, the one you claimed was just ‘nice.’”

“Okay, well I stand by that. He is nice. But also… He’s really cute and funny, and we ran into each other just now when I was getting coffee, except it was so awkward and neither of us knew what to say to each other and it was amazing but also awful,” Amy explained, all in one breath.

“Okay, first of all, no more coffee for you,” Gina said, taking the cup from her hand and setting it on the coffee table. “Second of all, I told you so! Tell me I was right.”

“Gina,” Amy groaned.

“C’mon, just tell me I was right.”

“You were right,” Amy rolled her eyes. “Happy?”

“Yes, extremely. Now, did you get his number?”

Amy bit her lip. “No.”

“Fool! Why not?” 

“I don’t know! I was nervous! And he didn’t ask for mine so…” Amy trailed off, shrugging.

“Amy, this is not the 1950s. You don’t have to wait for Bobby to call your dad to ask if he can take you to the diner or the sock hop or whatever. If you see him again, ask for his number.”

“But what if I already blew it?” Amy asked, scooting closer so she could steal some of Gina’s blanket. 

“Honey,” Gina began, draping half the blanket over her friend. “Both of you were nervous. And if he really likes you, he’s not going to hold a little bit of awkwardness against you.” 

Amy nodded, letting the words sink in. She sighed, and leaned her head against Gina’s shoulder. “But what if we don’t see each other again?” 

“You’ve already ran into each other twice. It’s no longer coincidental. The universe has spoken, and it’s clear that she wants you guys to be together,” Gina said.

Amy and Gina chatted for a bit longer, until Amy said that she really had to go back to her own apartment so she could get to work. She sat at her meticulously organized desk for a few hours, grading quizzes, printing out math worksheets, and deciding on prompts for her students' creative writing journals that they would be starting next week. 

At 5:30 she had to go over to Charlotte’s house to pick up Gabriella and walk her back home. “Did you have a good day?” Amy asked her daughter as they descended the steps of Charlotte’s apartment, and joined the crowded sidewalk.

“Yes,” Gabi nodded. “We watched a movie, and then we wrote a story together. It’s 10 pages long so far!”

“That’s awesome, baby. Can I read it?” 

“No. It isn’t done yet,” Gabriella explained, matter-of-factly.

Amy looked down at her daughter and smiled. Every day she found herself more and more amazed at her daughter. She was intelligent and wise beyond her years, but still innocent and youthful. Amy didn’t know how she got so lucky, but she was so thankful. 

Her smile quickly faded, however, when she saw Gabi nonchalantly open the book she had been holding. 

“Gabriella, we talked about this.  _ Please _ no reading and walking,” Amy said. She loved that her daughter had inherited her love of reading, but this habit made Amy so nervous. Way too many dangerous things happened in New York City. It was definitely a place that required alertness at all times. 

“But  _ Mom _ ,” Gabriella whined. “I just want to finish this chapter.”

“You can wait until you get home,” Amy declared, a little sharpness in her voice. 

The 9-year-old was determined to finish the page she was on, and kept her eyes glued to the book, and before her mom could tell her to stop again, she tripped over an uneven sidewalk. She landed roughly on the ground, her book skidding and landing a few feet in front of her.

Amy was kneeling by her side in a second. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Gabi said. “I’m sorry for not listening to you.”

“It’s okay. But now do you see why I don’t want you to do that?”

She nodded, fighting back tears. Amy helped Gabi up from the ground, and they both realized there was blood running down her knee. 

“Alright, let’s get you home and clean that up. You’re sure you’re okay?” Amy asked again.

“I’m okay. My knee just hurts,” Gabi replied. 

Just as they were about to start walking home again, a man was suddenly in front of them, holding out the book that had been dropped.

It was Jake.

“Hey, I think this is yours,” He said, and handed the book to Gabriella. 

“Officer Jake!” She exclaimed, remembering him from their last encounter. “Thank you.” 

“No problem. Hi, Amy. Again,” Jake smiled.

“Hi,” Amy said back, and all of the butterflies that she thought she had left in the coffee shop returned to her stomach.

“That knee looks pretty angry. I have a first aid kit in the squad car. It’s just down there,” He pointed to a police car that was parked on the side of the street further down. “I can get you a bandaid, if you want.”

“Oh, I don’t want to inconvenience you,” Amy replied.

“It’s really no trouble. I promise there are no bad guys in the back or anything,” He chuckled, nervousness seeping through as he made eye contact with Amy. “I would hate for you to have to walk home bleeding.”

“If it’s no trouble, then yeah. I would really appreciate it,” Amy smiled gratefully at him. 

She took Gabi’s hand, and Jake led them to where his police car was parked. A dark haired woman was leaning against it, holding a coffee cup with a tea bag hanging out the side. 

“This is my partener, Rosa Diaz,” Jake said, and Amy and Gabriella waved to her. Rosa nodded in response. “Would you mind getting the first aid kit?”

Rosa gave her partner a slightly confused look, but popped open the trunk and lifted out the large white box.

“This is Amy and Gabriella. Gabriella experienced a little casualty, so I told her we could help her out,” Jake explained.

Rosa’s stoic face changed for half a second as she realized this was who Jake had been talking about the other day. But her expression of realization quickly faded, and she smiled slightly. “Sure, no problem.”

Gabi sat sideways in the backseat with her legs dangling out, and Rosa began wiping off the bloody scrape with an alcohol wipe. 

Jake wrapped a hand gently around Amy’s wrist and led her a few steps away from Rosa and Gabriella. Amy took in a breath when she felt his hand. It was a simple, friendly touch. Yet it somehow felt electric.

“So… we’ve been running into each other a lot these days,” Jake pointed out, a nervous, goofy grin crossing his features.

“Yeah, I guess we have,” Amy laughed, still feeling his hand on her arm even though he had dropped it back to his side.

“I patrol this area most days so…” Jake explained, and then added, “I thought I should give you my phone number, you know, just in case anything like this happens again. If you ever need my help... or just want to talk.”

“Thank you. Yeah, that’s… That’s a good idea. Smart,” Amy nodded as calmly as she could while her heart was racing.

“Smort.” 

“What?”

“Um, nothing. Can I…?”

“Oh, yeah. Right,” Amy reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. She clicked on “create new contact” and handed it to him.

He quickly, (and with slightly shaky hands, she noticed,) entered his number into her phone and gave it back to her. She looked at it before sliding it back into her purse and saw that he made his contact name “Jake Peralta” with a policeman emoji, a happy face emoji, and an otter emoji. She couldn’t help but smile.

“Thanks. I’ll definitely call you sometime,” Amy said.

“I would love that,” Jake nodded.

They both made their way back to the car, just as Rosa was putting a large bandage over Gabi’s knee. 

“Thank you,” Gabi smiled. She got up and stood next to her mom.

“Seriously, thank you both so much,” Amy said gratefully, putting an arm around her daughter. 

“Don’t mention it,” Jake waved her off. “I’ll uh… see you around.”

Amy nodded, with much more confidence than she had hitherto exhibited to him. “See you around.”

After Amy and Gabriella had eaten dinner (Polish takeout, because even though Amy tried her best, she wasn’t really a great cook,) and Gabriella had gotten ready for bed and been kissed goodnight, Amy paced around her room. 

Her hair was still wet from the shower she had taken, her contacts had been taken out so her glasses were resting on her nose, and her finger was hovering over the call button next to Jake’s contact name. 

She really wanted to call him, but everytime she got closer to the little blue icon of the telephone, she second guessed herself. 

Was it too late to be calling? It was only 9:30 PM, but that suddenly felt very late. What if he thought something was wrong? Or, worse, what if he thought she was trying to insinuate something? 

And did it seem too desperate to call in the same day? She was leaning toward yes, but he had told her she could call him if she wanted to talk. 

She let out an exasperated sigh and flopped back onto her still made bed. Amy hadn’t even dated anyone since her relationship with Gabriella’s father ended four years ago. Being a mom was a full time job in and of itself, and combined with a full time teaching job, she barely had time to even  _ think  _ about dating someone. 

She hadn’t tread this water in a long time. But she really liked Jake, from what she knew about him so far. Which, in hindsight, was not a lot. But she knew he was kind, and caring, and willing to at least make an effort with her.

She decided not to call him tonight, but decided that she definitely would at some point.

Maybe tomorrow.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter 3! Thank you so so much to everyone who has commented saying that they like this story and are excited for more chapters!! It genuinely means so much to me that people are reading this and enjoying it. I'm having so much fun writing it. I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Amy’s alarm clock went off at exactly 7:00 AM the next day, and although most people dreaded Mondays, they were Amy’s favorite day of the week. She loved having a fresh start, and a week full of possibilities to look forward to. 

Once she got to school, her morning was filled with handing back graded vocabulary quizzes to her students, a science experiment, a math lesson, and the start of their creative writing journals. These journals were being implemented in all of the 5th grade classrooms this week, as a way to encourage self expression, but also as a way to practice their writing skills. Amy had suggested these at a meeting with all of the 5th grade teachers, and was pleasantly surprised when they all liked the idea.

Amy was mixing the dressing in her salad with one hand and holding her phone with the other when Gina came into her classroom, holding a tupperware of leftovers.

Sometimes they would eat lunch with the other teachers in the teachers’ lounge, but every so often Gina said she “couldn’t deal” with them. Today, Gina had texted Amy ten minutes before the lunch bell rang explaining that she had accidentally pissed off one of the third grade teachers this morning and they should probably eat in Amy’s classroom today. When Amy saw the text she laughed and shook her head in disbelief. She loved her best friend but sometimes she just seemed to have a knack for making enemies. 

Gina sunk into a chair that she had pulled up next to Amy’s desk and sighed dramatically. “”I love my little rugrats, but there is no creativity in their brains anymore,” She began. “I was reading the stories they wrote in their journals, and ten of them ended with ‘And then I woke up! It was just a dream!’” 

Amy nodded absentmindedly in response, not taking her eyes off of her phone.

“I’m just really concerned this next generation is going to grow up to be so basic,” Gina continued.

“Yeah, for sure,” Amy mumbled. 

“Are you even listening to me? Ames? Hello?” Gina said, snapping her fingers in front of her friend’s face.

Amy jumped, suddenly coming back to reality. “Sorry. I was just-” 

“Staring at your phone? What’s so interesting anyway?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Amy dismissed, attempting to turn away from Gina. 

But Gina had already seen. “Ohhh, who is this Jake?” 

Amy’s cheeks turned pink and she quickly locked her phone. She had been staring at Jake’s contact name, with her finger over the call button, exactly like she had been last night. 

“Wait! Is that the cop? Oh my God, Ames, is that the cop you were telling me about?” Gina gasped, realization dawning on her.

“Maybe…” Amy replied, a sheepish smile forming on her face.

“Hell yeah you got his number!” Gina exclaimed.

“Gina, no cussing, this is an elementary school,” Amy frowned, looking down the hall to make sure no students were there. “Thank you for the support though,” She laughed. “We ran into each other again yesterday evening and he just… gave me his number.” 

“Soulmates, I’m telling you. It’s what the universe wants for you guys,” Gina declared.

Although Amy thought that was a little far fetched, she couldn’t help but smile at Gina’s enthusiasm. “I just don’t know when to call him. I wanted to last night, but that felt too soon. Do you think it would have been too soon?”

Gina shrugged. “Maybe a little.”

“Should I call him today? Or is that still too soon? I could wait until tomorrow, but I don’t want him to think I  _ don’t _ want to talk to him. And then what time am I supposed to call him? If it’s too late at night, it might seem suspicious. But if I do it in the afternoon, he might not answer. I mean, I don’t even know the hours that he works!” Amy rambled, her voice getting louder, and her face becoming more panicked with each sentence.

Gina blinked at her a few times. “Is it ever exhausting to have the brain that you do?”

“A little bit, yeah,” Amy sighed.

“Look, you’re way overthinking this. If he gave you his number, he obviously wants you to call him. And if he doesn’t answer, he’ll call you back whenever he can,” Gina said, and then looked up at the clock. “It’s 12 o’ clock right now. There’s a good chance he’s on his lunch break. Just call him right now.”

“Right now?” Amy squeaked. “I was planning on doing more preparation. I was going to go through his Facebook and Instagram, and find out some basic information. You know, family, vacation spots, hobbies. And then I was going to make flashcards with talking points based on that information, in case I don’t know what to say or the conversation hits a dead end.”

“Okay, first of all, he might arrest you for stalking. Second of all, you don’t need flashcards. Just be yourself, weirdo. He obviously really likes you. Go with it,” Gina advised.

“I guess I’m just nervous because I haven’t been in a relationship, or even dated in so long. And the last one ended so badly and… I really don’t want to get hurt again,” Amy admitted, biting her lip and looking down at her shoes.

Gina gave her a sympathetic look and placed a hand on her knee. “I know, my baby. But he seems really nice. Give him a chance. Maybe you’ll end up together, or maybe you’ll just go on a few dates. Or maybe you will get hurt. You have no way of knowing. But you have to at least try.”

“That’s true. Thank you,” Amy smiled, giving Gina’s hand a squeeze. “Sometimes I forget how good you are at giving advice.”

“Are you kidding me? I’m like a wise old owl. I just can’t reveal that to people too often or they’ll realize how powerful I truly am.”

“Right,” Amy nodded. She was more than used to Gina’s antics at this point in their five year friendship. “Okay. I think… I think I’m going to call him now.”

“Go for it girl. You got this. If things are too awkward and you need an excuse to hang up, tap me on the shoulder, and I’ll create a scenario.”

“Thanks, Gina. I think I’ll be okay.”

“Okay, but if you change your mind, I’ve got a lighter and a can of hairspray in my bag,” Gina said, patting the bag she had set on the floor when she sat down.

“I- okay. I’m just gonna call him now.”

Amy pressed the call button next to his name, and upon hearing the ringing, she suddenly was unable to sit anymore. She stood up, and started pacing the perimeter of her classroom. After a few rings, she heard Jake’s voice say, “Hello?”

“Jake, hi! This is Amy,” She responded, resisting the urge to bite her nails.

“Amy! Hi. I’m so glad to be hearing your voice right now. How are you?”

“I’m good! I’m on my lunch break right now, so I’d figured I’d call you. How are you?”

“I’m good. I’m on my lunch break too. Thanks for calling,” He said, and she could practically hear his grin through the phone. 

“Yeah, no problem.” She sensed a lull in the conversation, and started to panic, but then reminded herself of what Gina had told her. “So, any interesting things happen at your job today? Any car chases or jumping from roof to roof?”

Jake laughed. “I wish. Nothing quite that exciting, unfortunately. Although there was a lady earlier who thought that someone was trying to rob her, but turns out it was just a pigeon.”

“A pigeon?”

“Yeah, he kept running into the window because he thought it was open. It was pretty funny, honestly.”

Amy chuckled. “That is funny. Do pigeons often get mistaken for criminals?”

“Surprisingly, yes. I mean, they just cause problems all the time. I once saw a man get into a straight up fight with a pigeon. Can you guess who won?”

“The pigeon?”

“One hundred percent. New York is a nightmare, but I love it.”

“Me too. Have you lived here your whole life?” Amy asked, finding it easier and easier to talk to him the longer the conversation went on. She stopped pacing, and instead planted her feet near the bookshelf, and gazed out the window. 

“Yeah I have. How about you?”

“I have too. My grandparents were born in Cuba and lived there for a while, but my parents were born here in America, and I was born in Brooklyn. So were all of my brothers.”

“How many brothers do you have?” Jake asked. He loved talking to Amy. All of their earlier, nervous encounters seemed to be behind them, and he was grateful for that.

“Seven,” Amy sighed, as though it was exhausting to even say out loud.

“Seven?! Wow. What’s that like?”

“It’s… interesting, to say the least,” She laughed. “It made me super competitive, and they kind of drive me crazy. But I love them.”

“Yeah, that’s-” Jake stopped short, and Amy could make out someone talking to him. It sounded like Rosa, and it sounded like she was saying that they had to go respond to a B & E. “Hey, I’m sorry, I have to go. Duty calls. But I’ll call you later tonight, if that’s okay?”

“Yeah that would be great,” Amy agreed. 

“Bye, Amy.”

“Bye, Jake.”

Amy hung up the phone and spun back around to face Gina, who began clapping and cheering out loud.

Amy playfully rolled her eyes. “Stop that.” 

“You did it. See, no note cards or social media stalking required,” Gina pointed out.

“You were right,” Amy admitted. 

“I will never get tired of hearing you say that,” Gina said.

“Alright, c’mon. We’re on recess monitor duty this week,” Amy told her, grabbing Gina’s hands to pull her up from her chair.

Their job was to stand by the fence during 5th grade recess and make sure none of the kids were doing anything dangerous. Amy usually took this job very seriously, and even wore a whistle around her neck, but today she let her mind wander a little bit. She played back the conversation she had had with Jake, and the way he said her name, and how excited he sounded that she was calling. She was already looking forward to talking to him again later.

At the end of the day, as Amy was straightening up the rows of desks, Gabriella came in, holding a piece of paper, with a little less cheer than she usually had. 

“Hi honey. Are you okay?” Amy asked. She could tell right away that her daughter was holding back tears.

“Have you looked at the calendar of school events yet?” Gabriella asked.

“No. I passed them out to my students today, but I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet. Why?” 

“Look at what’s happening on December 11th,” Gabriella said, with a shaky voice. She held out the calendar to her mom.

Amy’s heart sank when she saw that it said  _ Father Daughter Dance  _ in big bold letters next to December 11th’s date. She immediately wrapped Gabi in a tight hug and kissed her forehead. Memories of Gabriella’s father leaving them four years ago flooded through her mind. Memories of yelling and screaming and then sitting on the couch, holding her sobbing five-year-old daughter, while silent tears streamed down her own face.

“I’m so sorry. I had no idea that was happening,” Amy apologized.

“It’s okay. Not your fault,” Gabriella said as she pulled away from the hug and wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Hey, how about we do something special that day? Your choice. We can go out to dinner, to the bookstore, or we could get our nails done? Or we could stay in and watch movies. Whatever you want. Does that sound okay?” Amy offered. She hoped that spending some one on one time together would make that day a little more bearable for Gabi. 

“That sounds good,” She nodded, smiling now. 

“Okay, good. I love you baby. So much,” Amy leaned down to give her daughter another kiss.

“I love you too mom.”

After an evening of homework, reading through journal entries, dinner, and a movie, Gabriella was in bed for the night, and Amy was sitting up in bed, attempting to read a book. Although every few sentences she would glance at her phone, willing for it to ring. She was trying to play it cool, and not overthink it, but Amy was a person of schedules. She had essentially every aspect of her life mapped out. So when Jake said he would call her “later tonight,” a certain anxiousness had been filling her mind since 8 pm. 

She had just started another chapter when her phone did in fact ring. She jumped a little, and when she saw that it was Jake, she answered right away.

“Hey,” She greeted.

“Hey back. How was your day?” He asked.

“It was good. No one got hit in the head with a dodgeball at recess, which is a rarity, so that was exciting. I read through a lot of stories with incorrect grammar. Nothing too exciting.”

“You make it sound exciting, though.”

Amy could feel herself blushing. “How about you?”

“We caught a few bad guys, so that’s good. I had to hang up earlier because we had to respond to a home invasion. I found the guy hiding in the closet, and we arrested him. We also arrested two other people, but it was just for shoplifting, so you know, not as cool,” Jake told her.

“Wow. That’s amazing, Jake. How you just spend your days chasing after criminals and bringing them to justice. I really admire that.”

It was Jake who was blushing now. “Oh, thank you. I mean, I’m no John McClane, but-”

“Who?” Amy interjected.

“No, tell me you’re kidding.”

“Uh… no, sorry,” Amy laughed. “I really don’t know who that is.”

“Just when I thought you might be perfect!” Jake exclaimed. “You’ve never seen  _ Die Hard _ ?”

“I have not,” Amy said, smiling at the fact that he thought she might be perfect.

“You have to watch it sometime, seriously. It’s the best movie of all time.”

“If it’s really that good, I guess I need to watch it. Oh, hold on one second,” Amy told him as her door opened and her daughter came in. She pressed the phone to her shoulder, and asked, “What’s up, baby?”

Gabriella walked up to Amy’s bed in her pink striped pajamas, and batted her eyelashes sweetly. “Can I  _ please _ stay up and read for a little bit longer? Just a little bit?”

“Alright, 30 more minutes. But that’s it,” Amy agreed. 

“Thank you!” Gabi squealed and dashed back to her room.

Amy chuckled and picked the phone back up “Hey, sorry. I’m back.”

“That’s okay. Was that Gabriella?” He asked.

“Yeah, it was.”

“Tell me about her,” Jake requested earnestly.

And so Amy did. She told him that it was just her and Gabi, and Jake told Amy that it had been just him and his mom growing up too. She told him all about Gabriella and how that girl was her whole world, and Jake listened to all of it intently. They told each other more about their jobs, about their favorite food and favorite shows, and if they preferred to sleep with the fan on or off. 

Every time Amy got nervous that the conversation was going to stop and she wouldn’t know what to say, somehow they would get into another topic and keep talking. 

They talked on the phone for over an hour before they both agreed that they needed some sleep, and would talk tomorrow.

As Amy switched off her bedside table lamp and closed her eyes, she thought about how much more comfortable they were talking to each other now. Just yesterday, they had been so unsure around each other, but now they were chatting as if they’d known each other all their lives.

Amy didn’t know what was going to happen from here, just like Gina had said, but she was sure as hell going to continue to at least try. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter wasn't too slow! I wanted to be able to set things up properly for upcoming chapters. Also, you know I have to have a little bit of slow burn, haha. Chapter 4 will be coming soon!


	4. Chapter 4

A little over a week had passed since Jake and Amy had had their first conversation on the phone. Since then, the conversations became a regular thing, along with texting, and FaceTiming.

They would text each other periodically during the day, letting the other one know of anything funny that happened at work, what they were doing, or any random thought that popped into their mind. On Thursday afternoon, for example, Jake had texted Amy:  _ do u think dogs think in words or barks?  _

Calling usually happened during their lunch breaks at work, and FaceTiming started happening at night. Jake and Amy were both amazed at how quickly they had fallen into a rhythm with each other, and how they never ran out of things to say. They loved talking to each other, loved getting to know each other, and loved sharing little pieces of their lives with each other.

Although the phone communication was great, and convenient for both of their busy and hectic work schedules, Jake figured that it was about time they went on an actual date.

It was 10:00 PM on a Wednesday night when he asked. 

Gabriella had gone to sleep a little while ago, and Amy sat down on the couch and cracked open a book when she got an incoming FaceTime call from Jake. She tossed her book on the coffee table and answered with a cheerful, “Hey!”

“Hey, what’s up?” Jake greeted from where he was snuggled in his bed, beneath the comforter.

“Not much. I was just about to read a book, but I think I’d rather talk to you.” 

“Oh, you  _ think _ ?” Jake smirked. 

“Well, it is a pretty good book,” Amy teased. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” He responded. “So, I have a question for you.”

“Okay,” Amy nodded.

“I love talking to you on the phone, but I would also really like to talk to you in person again. Are you free Saturday night?” 

Amy’s heart fluttered a little. “I think so. Let me check my calendar.” 

She reached forward and looked at the upcoming Saturday in her color coded planner. The only thing that was written down for Saturday was a reminder that she had to start preparing another unit for math, but that was it. 

“Yeah, I’m free,” Amy smiled.

“Okay, perfect. I’ll pick you up at 7. Wear something nice,” Jake said, mirroring Amy’s smile. 

They continued to talk and catch each other up on how their days had gone, but Amy’s stomach was doing somersaults the entire time as she thought about Saturday. It had been so long since she had been on a date. The last one had been in college, with Gabriella’s father. She tried to play it cool throughout the rest of their conversation, but twenty minutes later, when their conversation ended, the panic fully set in, and Amy immediately called Gina.

“Bitch, you know I hate being woken up,” Gina said sleepily when she picked up the phone. 

“I know, I know, I’m sorry. But Jake just asked me out on a date and I’m kind of freaking out. What if we forget how to talk to each other and go back to being awkward?” Amy exclaimed, a little breathlessly.

Gina let out a sigh, and then sat up in bed. “Ames, listen. You idiots have been talking on the phone like, constantly for the past week and a half. Surely you can talk to him in person.”

“But what if it’s different when we’re on an actual date? What if the lighting in the restaurant is off and he decides I’m ugly? I don’t even know if I own anything nice to wear. Do I even own a dress? The last time I was on a date feels like forever ago and-”

“Amy,  _ calm down. _ Seriously, it’s gonna be fine. You can borrow something of mine if you want, or you can just go shopping. This is the same guy that you’ve been talking to on the phone. He likes you, and you like him. You’ll have fun. Don’t focus on all the things that could go wrong,” Gina said.

“Right. Yeah, that’s true. Sorry, I just- it’s been a long time,” Amy said, calmer as she let her friend’s words sink in. 

“I know, girl. I’ll come over and help you get ready on Saturday, kay?”

“I would like that. Thank you, Gina,” Amy said gratefully.

They said goodnight to each other, and Amy’s last thoughts before she fell asleep were about Jake and their date and the possibility of kissing him in 3 days. 

Saturday rolled around, and despite Amy’s excitement, she had started getting a little jittery by early afternoon, and needed to distract herself. She had already finished everything she needed to do for her class, and had done laundry. She decided to clean as much of the house as she could- her go to solution for nervousness. 

By 4 PM, The dishes had been washed and the countertops and tables had been scrubbed, and she was wrapping the cord back around the vacuum when Gabriella came out of her room, where she had been doing homework and reading.

“Mom?” She called, walking over to where Amy was.

“Yes, baby?”

“I don’t feel good,” Gabriella said.

“Aw, you don’t? What’s wrong?” Amy asked, forgetting the vacuum and pressing a hand to the girl’s forehead.

“My throat hurts, and so does my head. And I feel really hot,” Gabi explained.

“You’re really warm,” Amy frowned. “Here, sit down on the couch. I’ll go get the thermometer.”

She retrieved the thermometer from the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and put it under Gabi’s tongue. It beeped after a minute, and revealed that she had a 102 degree fever. Gabriella was supposed to stay at Amy’s parents’ house that night, that way she could spend some time with her grandparents, and Amy could stay out on her date as late as she wanted. But now it looked like neither of those things were happening. 

Gabriella looked at the thermometer and groaned. 

“Looks like you’ll be staying home tonight. I’m sorry honey,” Amy apologized. She ran a hand through her daughter’s hair and took a seat next to her on the couch. 

“I was really looking forward to spending the night at Abuelo and Abuela’s house,” Gabriella said, disappointment evident in her voice and on her pale face.

“I know. But we can reschedule,” Amy promised. “Do you want to take a bath? It might make you feel better.”

Gabriella nodded.

“Okay. Go get some pajamas to put on and I’ll run you a bath,” Amy planted a kiss on Gabi’s forehead.

She quickly texted her parents, and Gina, to let them know what was going on, and then started a lukewarm bath for Gabriella, and added a few drops of lavender essential oil that she knew her daughter loved.

After letting Gabi know that she would be in the living room if she needed anything, Amy picked up the phone to call Jake.

Before he even had the chance to finish saying hello, Amy started rambling.

“Jake, I’m so sorry, but I have to cancel for tonight. Gabriella has a fever, and I just really need to take care of her, and I’m  _ so sorry.  _ I was really looking forward to this, and I promise we can go out another time.”

“Amy, hey, it’s okay. You need to take care of your kid tonight. I get it. Do you need anything?” Jake asked. His voice was calm, steady, and reassuring to Amy.

“Oh, Jake, thank you so much. I’m okay though.”

“Are you sure? It’s really no trouble. I live like, five minutes from a drugstore if you need me to pick up something.”

“Well… we’re running low on children’s Motrin. You’re really okay with getting it?” Amy asked. She appreciated his willingness to help but still felt guilty accepting it. 

“Of course. It’s not a big deal. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Jake said.

“Thank you so much. It’s in an orange box. I’ll text you my address. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. See you soon,” Jake said, before hanging up the phone and going off in pursuit of medicine. 

Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and when Amy opened it, Jake was on the other side, holding a plastic bag.

“Thank you. I can’t say it enough. I promise I’ll pay you back,” Amy said.

Jake waved her off. “Don’t worry about it. I got the medicine, and I got some popsicles, because they always made me feel better when I was a kid.”

“That’s really thoughtful, Jake,” Amy looked at him lovingly. 

She was just about to take the bag from him when she heard “Officer Jake?” behind her. Gabi had walked into the room, clad in her pajamas, cheeks rosy with fever, and hair still wet from the bath. 

“What are you doing here?” She asked.

Amy looked to Jake with wide eyes. This thing that she had with Jake was still so new, and she didn’t want Gabi to know about it yet. The more she protected her daughter from getting hurt again, the better. Luckily, Jake was quick to think of what to say. 

“I gave your mom my phone number in case she ever needed help with anything. She needed me to bring you some medicine,” He explained, holding up the bag and smiling.

“Oh, that’s nice. Thank you, Officer Jake,” Gabriella smiled back.

“How are you feeling?” Amy asked.

Gabi shook her head. “Not good.”

“How about you go lay in my bed? I’ll be there in a minute and you can take some medicine,” Amy suggested.

Gabriella nodded, and slowly made her way into her mom’s room. 

Amy took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair.

“You okay?” Jake asked.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I just don’t like when she’s sick. I know it’s probably nothing but… still. I think having a kid means just worrying, constantly,” Amy said, chuckling half-heartedly.

“Well, for the record, I think you’re a really good mother,” Jake told her, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder. “Can I… Can I give you a hug? I feel like you could use one right now.”

Amy felt a smile spread across her face. She nodded, and their arms encircled around each other. Jake rubbed her back, and Amy buried her face in his chest, and took deep breaths. They hugged for a couple minutes, neither one of them wanting to pull away. 

But eventually Amy did, telling him that she needs to go give Gabi her medicine. He told her that he hopes Gabriella feels better, and she thanked him again before closing the door. Amy allowed herself to lean against her front door for a minute, and relish in the fact that she had just experienced one of the best hugs of her life. 

After Gabi took some medicine, and her fever came down, she ate some chicken noodle soup, and watched movies on Amy’s laptop for the rest of the evening. She fell asleep around nine, and when Amy felt her forehead, she was pleased that it still felt relatively cool. She tucked the blankets a little tighter around her daughter, and then quietly went out to the living room, closing the door behind her.

She sank into the couch cushions, worry pulsing through her veins, and FaceTimed Jake. 

“Hey. How’s Gabriella doing?” He asked.

“She’s doing better. Her fever is down, and she really appreciated the popsicles,” Amy replied.

“Good, I’m glad to hear that,” Jake smiled.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry, again, for having to cancel. And I totally get if you don’t want to reschedule the date, or if you just want to quit while we’re ahead. I’m a mom, and sometimes that means I have to cancel things or do things differently, and I understand if that’s not what you’re looking for right now,” Amy said. 

“What? Ames, where is this coming from?” Jake asked gently, and the nickname rolled off his tongue without him thinking about it. 

Amy had been called “Ames” by her friends and family her entire life, but something about hearing it from Jake caused butterflies to appear in her stomach, even amidst the sudden seriousness of the conversation. 

“I don’t know, I just… got worried. I seem to be doing that a lot lately,” Amy admitted, gazing down at her lap.

“Look, I really like you. I really want to go on a date with you, and I want to keep whatever this is going. I know you’re a mom, and sometimes that’s unpredictable, but I’m okay with that. More than okay with that. You’re doing a kickass job raising Gabriella. Seriously, she’s amazing.  _ You’re _ amazing,” Jake told her. 

“So… Next Saturday at 7?” Amy offered, looking back up and meeting Jake’s eyes through the screen again. 

“Next Saturday at 7,” Jake confirmed.

“Thank you. For everything, tonight. You’re pretty incredible.”

“Back at you. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

Amy nodded. “Goodnight, Jake Peralta.”

“Goodnight, Amy Santiago.” 

Amy crawled back into her bed, next to her daughter, and stared at the ceiling in the dark for a little bit. She realized she had spent so much of the last few weeks doubting herself, and doubting Jake, and each doubt had been proved wrong. 

When she was worried she had blown her chance at getting his number, he gave it to her on the sidewalk.

When she was worried that they weren’t going to be able to talk to each other, conversation came easily. 

When she was worried he would want to end things because of the responsibilities she had as a mom, he reassured her that that wasn’t the case at all.

As she listened to the whir of her ceiling fan, and the sound of Gabi’s peaceful breathing, she decided she was going to stop being doubtful and worried.

She decided she was going to be excited about this new man in her life.

And she was already counting down the days and hours until Saturday at 7.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so... still no date. I know, I know. But I promise it's coming very soon! Thank you all so much for reading!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, here is chapter 5! I'm sorry if anyone was a bit disappointed last chapter that they didn't go on their date! Hopefully this chapter makes up for it ;)

“Nope. Too dark. Try on the next one,” Gina said from Amy’s bed, leaning back into the pillows and shaking her head.

Amy let out a frustrated sigh and slipped the navy blue dress over her head, throwing it onto the “no” pile.

It was an hour and a half before Jake was supposed to pick her up for their date. Gabriella was at her grandparents’ house, and Amy was in her room with Gina, trying on a plethora of dresses. She had dug some out that she hadn’t worn in a long time from the back of her closet, and Gina brought over all the dresses she had (which was  _ a lot _ .) Amy had tried on dress after dress, only for each one to be vetoed by Gina. Although in all honesty, she hadn’t been crazy about any of them yet either. 

Anticipatory butterflies had been multiplying in Amy’s stomach all day, yet they were mostly from excitement. She was a little nervous, sure, but for the most part, she felt pure excitement. Almost giddiness, really. She hadn’t had a lot of in person conversation with Jake. Only their early encounters, and when he brought Gabriella medicine last week. She couldn’t wait to just occupy the same space as him.

Although that excitement was temporarily halted by the apparently impossible task of choosing a dress. 

Next from the pile of dresses she hadn’t tried on yet was a dress that was tight, very short, and covered in glitter. She held it up to Gina with a look of confusion. 

“Oh, that was from my college days. Probably just don’t even try that one on,” Gina shrugged.

Amy agreed and tried on the next dress. It was a bright golden yellow, tighter at the top but it flared out a little at the waist, and reached just above her knees. It was a much bolder color than she would typically go for, but when she put it on, Gina gasped.

“Yes! Yes! That’s the one,” She cried.

“Are you sure?” Amy frowned. “It’s just really bright.”

“I know, and you look like a ray of damn sunshine. Seriously, Ames. You’re glowing,” Gina declared.

“Yeah?” Amy asked, turning to look at herself in the full length mirror.

“For sure.”

Amy nodded, smiling as she took in the dress. It did look pretty nice. 

Five minutes before seven o’ clock, Gina had finished curling Amy’s hair and doing her makeup, and they found a necklace and shoes that looked good with the dress. 

“So, do I look okay?” Amy asked from the bathroom.

Gina walked in and took a seat on the counter as Amy spritzed herself with perfume.

“You look amazing. That boy isn’t gonna know what to do with himself.”

“Thanks Gina,” Amy chuckled. “And thank you for helping me get ready.”

“No problem, girl. Are you nervous?”

“A little,” Amy replied. “But I’m mostly just really looking forward to it.”

Gina smiled and squeezed her shoulder, and then Amy’s face lit up with excitement as the doorbell rang.

“Oh, Ames, B T dubs, I’m probably going to eat some food from your fridge and then take a nap on your couch. Cool?” Gina asked as Amy moved to answer the door. 

“Sure,” Amy replied, laughing and shaking her head in disbelief. 

She opened the door, and Jake stood there in a suit, holding flowers. His mouth fell open a bit upon seeing her.

“Amy, you look… wow. You look incredible,” He said.

“Thank you, Jake,” Amy blushed. “You too.”

“Here, these are for you,” Jake held out the bouquet of pink tulips.

“Thank you so much. I’ll put them in some water and then we can go,” She smiled.

“Actually, I got it,” Gina said, appearing next to Amy and gently taking the flowers. “You crazy kids go have fun.”

“Oh, thanks. Jake, this is-” 

“Gina Linetti, human form of the one hundered emoji,” Gina interjected, sticking out her hand, which Jake shook.

“This is my best friend Gina,” Amy explained, laughing at the way Gina insisted on introducing herself.

“Nice to meet you,” Jake smiled. “Are you ready to go?”

Amy nodded, waving goodbye to Gina, and closing the door behind her. 

They stepped out onto the busy sidewalk, and the temperature was a comfortable warm. August had turned into September and the heat wasn’t so brutal. And with the setting sun, it was perfect weather.

“So... where are we going?” Amy asked.

“An Italian place. Is that okay with you?” 

“It’s perfect.”

Jake seemed to let out a breath of relief. Amy figured maybe he had been nervous too. “Okay, good. I’m glad. It’s only a ten minute walk, but if you want to, we can get a cab. Sorry, I probably should have asked you first.”

And, okay, he had definitely been nervous. 

“No, I’m totally fine with walking,” Amy reassured him. “It’s a beautiful night outside anyway.” Jake nodded in agreement, smiling widely. Amy felt herself smiling back, almost like it was an involuntary response. 

Without thinking much of it, Amy slipped her hand around his arm and kept it there the rest of the way to the restaurant. Neither of them said anything about it, but it felt natural; The two of them, arms hooked together, walking the streets of Brooklyn headed to a nice restaurant. It all just felt so natural. And _ right _ . 

“So, where’s Gabriella?” Jake asked out of curiosity after the waiter had poured them two glasses of red wine.

“She’s at my parents’ house for the night. They own about a million books so she’ll be pretty happy tonight,” Amy explained.

“So is being a bit of a nerd kind of a Santiago thing?” Jake teased.

“Oh, for sure. And we wear that as a badge of honor.”

They both laughed, and then Jake opened his mouth to say something, but stopped himself. 

“What?” Amy asked, noticing his apprehension. 

“Oh, nothing,” Jake dismissed, taking a sip of his wine.

“No, it’s okay,” Amy said gently. “Were you going to ask me something?”

“Well… I was going to ask if Gabriella ever sees her biological father, but then I realized that probably wasn’t an appropriate question. I mean, the waiter hasn’t even brought the bread yet…” He chuckled nervously. 

“It’s okay,” Amy repeated. “I mean, we’ve been talking on the phone everyday for a few weeks, and by now you know a lot about me, but not that.”

Typically, Gabriella’s father was her least favorite topic of conversation. It was a sensitive subject, and her family, and Gina, knew to be very careful about bringing it up. 

But something was different about the way Jake asked. Not only did he have a similar experience growing up, but he was asking in a way that told Amy he just wanted to get to know her better. He wasn’t being nosy or inconsiderate, he merely was curious about Amy’s life. Jake always gave her the feeling that he wanted to know all about her, and it made her feel special.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to tell me,” Jake assured her, still feeling bad for bringing it up. 

“I want to,” Amy said, and took a deep breath. “His name was Teddy. We met our junior year of college and started dating. After college, we both landed jobs and moved in together. I got pregnant a few months after we graduated, and it was completely unexpected. I decided that I wanted to keep the baby, and he kind of flipped out at the idea of being a dad, but eventually decided he wanted to stick around and be a father. He tried, I guess, but the older Gabi got, the less he showed interest. We would have fights about it all the time. I would tell him he needed to be around more, needed to actually acknowledge his daughter, and he would get super defensive. Then, when Gabi was five, he told me he had met another woman, and left. We haven’t seen him since then. He hasn’t even called in years.”

“I’m really sorry you and Gabriella had to go through all of that, Ames,” Jake said sincerely, reaching across the table for her hand. Amy gladly placed her hand in his, and he rubbed circles on her knuckles with his thumb.

“Thank you,” She smiled. “We’re okay. I mean, we got hurt, and it still hurts us, sometimes. Her especially. But we have each other. And I think she’ll turn out okay.”

“She will. Because you’re an amazing mom,” Jake told her.

They looked at each other lovingly, still holding hands, only breaking eye contact when their waitress placed a basket of bread and a dish of olive oil on the table. They thanked her, and each took a piece.

“Did you ever see your dad growing up?” Amy asked. “I know you mentioned it was just you and your mom.”

“I saw him sometimes. But he’s just… not a great person. And there were a lot of broken promises. After a while I pretty much learned to stop trusting him. Things have gotten a little bit better between us lately. We talk on the phone a little bit more, but that’s about it,” Jake explained.

“Well, for what it’s worth, you still turned out to be a pretty incredible person, despite his absence,” Amy said.

“You think so?” Jake asked, doubt in his voice.

“Yes,” Amy answered, nodding her head as if she’d never been more sure of anything.

And there was something in her voice that made Jake really believe what she was saying. He had always struggled with his confidence, probably because his dad left, but if someone as kind and smart as Amy was telling him he was incredible, he thought that maybe he should believe it. 

Their food came a short while later, and they continued to talk and laugh throughout the rest of their date. At one point Jake made Amy laugh so hard that she nearly choked on her wine, which in turn only made them laugh harder, once she had recovered.

Amy realized she couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed this much. Jake was  _ so funny,  _ and somehow even funnier in person compared to over the phone. So many things were better in person. She got to see his smile right in front of her and not on a screen, got to smell his cologne (which smelled  _ so good _ ,) and she got to hold his hand, and grab onto his arm, and brush her foot against his under the table.

He insisted on paying, which Amy thanked him for profusely, and when they walked out of the noisy restaurant, they were surprised to see it was raining pretty hard. Usually Amy detested the rain, or anything that made her cold, but tonight she felt so warm and bright that she insisted on walking when Jake offered to hail a cab. 

Jake wordlessly slipped his jacket off and draped it around her shoulders, rubbing her

shoulders a few times in an attempt to keep her warm. She thanked him and her hands found their way back around his arm.

“Are you sure you’re okay with walking?” Jake asked for the third time. “I know you hate being cold.”

“I promise you, I’m fine. I’m just feeling a little adventurous tonight,” Amy shrugged. Something about Jake made her feel more relaxed and spontaneous than she had ever felt before. “Besides, it’s kind of romantic, don’t you think?” 

Jake looked at her with a smile and bit his lip. “Definitely romantic.”

When they arrived at her apartment complex, they were both soaked with rain water, but just as he went to open the door, Amy lightly grabbed his arm to stop him. She pulled him back so they were standing underneath the awning, no longer getting drenched, but still surrounded by the sound of the rain.

“I just wanted to say, thank you so much for tonight. I haven’t opened up this much or laughed this much in a really long time. I’m just… I’m really glad we found each other,” Amy said gratefully, gazing into Jake’s eyes which were suddenly very close.

“Ames, thank  _ you.  _ I had such a good time. I’m really glad we found each other too. And… I’m excited to see where this goes,” He said.

Amy nodded in agreement, and for a moment they stood there, faces only inches apart, the rain drizzling around them. But then Jake moved to gently hold the back of Amy’s head, and his lips met hers in a kiss. Gentle and slow at first, but with more fervor as Amy cupped the sides of Jake’s face. Jake leaned in, hand roaming across her back, and Amy was pressed up against the brick wall. They broke apart after a minute, let out a breath, and smiled as they gazed into each other’s eyes.

Amy slid off his jacket, passed it back to him, and grabbed his hand. She held on until she was at the door, her hand slipping out of his because of the distance, and as they said goodnight to each other, neither of them were able to suppress their beaming smiles.

When Amy walked into her apartment, she felt like she was floating. Gina was on her couch, huddled under a blanket, and immediately paused the Netflix show she had been watching when Amy came in.

“How was it?!” Gina immediately asked. “I’m assuming your smudged lipstick means you kissed?” She added, raising her eyebrows.

Amy sheepishly wiped a thumb around her mouth, and sat down next to Gina, but still didn’t stop smiling. “Gina, it was so amazing. The date, the kiss, him. I haven’t been this happy in a long time.”

“You deserve to be happy, Ames,” Gina said, patting her knee.

“Thank you,” Amy replied, appreciating how supportive her friend was.

“I better be maid of honor when you guys get married though,” Gina told her as they both stood up.

Amy sighed and shook her head. “Goodnight, Gina.”

“I’m serious! And don’t make me wear an ugly dress!” She called as she walked toward the door. But just as she walked into the hallway she poked her head back in the door and added, “Love you, nerd.”

Amy laughed. “Love you too.”

After Amy took off her makeup, and showered, she got into bed, and she swore she could still smell his cologne as she drifted off to sleep. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it! They finally went on their date AND they kissed :) This was a really fun chapter to write and I'm so excited to keep writing this story! Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading this story, it means a lot to me. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it's been so long since the last chapter!! I had a bit of writer's block and just needed to take a break, but I finally wrote this chapter. It's a little shorter than my other chapters, but I think it turned out pretty good. Thank you all for being patient! I hope you enjoy!

It was dark outside when Jake and Amy stepped out of the theatre. Brooklyn was bustling with Friday night activity; couples holding hands, college students drunkenly climbing into Ubers, tired men in suits with briefcases that had clearly been overworked at their jobs today walking home. 

It had been a few weeks since Jake and Amy had been on their first date. They had found time to go on three other dates: they went out for dinner again once, had early morning coffee and muffins at their favorite coffee shop, and last week they had seen a movie. 

A few days ago Amy had told Jake about a play that was at a local off-Broadway theatre, and although Jake really wasn’t the biggest fan of live theatre, she had sounded so excited that he managed to snag some tickets. 

As they began walking back to Amy’s apartment (Jake always walked her home after a date, no matter how late it was,) Amy was chattering excitedly about how much she enjoyed the play.

“The costumes were so beautiful, Jake! Very accurate to the time period, which I appreciated.” Amy gushed, looping her arm through Jake’s.

Jake nodded, smiling fondly at her.

“I think my favorite part was when the two leads finally admitted that they loved each other. It was so romantic. What was your favorite part?” Amy asked.

Jake inwardly grimaced. He had really been hoping she wouldn’t ask him any specifics. “Oh… Um, that was my favorite part too.” 

Amy stepped in front of him, and squinted her eyes suspiciously. “Jake. Did you even pay attention to any of it?”

“Uh…” He trailed off. 

Amy laughed. “We could have done something else!”

“No, no it was great!” Jake insisted as they began walking again. “I’m just not much of a theatre guy. I still had a good time though.”

“Are you sure?” 

“One hundred percent. I love spending time with you. Besides, I was mostly just watching your reactions the whole time. You were so into it. Your face always mirrored the actors’ faces on stage.”

“Really?” Amy blushed. “I didn’t even realize.”

“Oh, yeah. When one of the characters was crying, you would get this really sad look. And when the characters were happy, you started smiling. It was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Jake grinned, lacing his fingers through hers.

Amy giggled, still blushing. “Well, at least you were entertained.” 

“Oh for sure,” Jake said, before turning to press a kiss to her lips.

She continued to talk about the play the rest of the way home, and even started analyzing the theme of it and how the props were symbolic of different things. Jake just listened, mesmerized by how smart she was and how much she noticed the details of everything.

When they got back to Amy’s apartment building, they kissed goodbye, and just as Jake stepped away to leave, Amy called out, in a moment of courage, “Wait!”

Jake spun around, seeing Amy at the top of the steps, in front of the door. 

“Yes?” He asked.

She closed the distance between them and met him on the sidewalk. 

“Well…” She began, a little nervously. “Gabi is spending the night at Gina’s tonight. So… I thought you might want to come inside.” 

Jake’s eyes glimmered as he felt his breath catch in his throat. “I would love to.”

“Okay,” Amy nodded, with more confidence this time, and grabbed his hand and led him to the elevator. 

When they stepped inside her apartment, Amy toed off her shoes and Jake did the same, and then he stood still against the door for a second, gazing into the kitchen and living room, suddenly nervous. 

Just as he was about to open his mouth to make a joke, that in hindsight was probably not that funny, Amy was suddenly in front of him, holding onto the sides of his suit jacket, and looking into his eyes lustfully. Their lips crashed into each other at the same time, and they kissed with a newfound ferocity, hands roaming across each other’s backs.

Amy reached to tug his suit jacket off, and Jake stopped for a minute.

“Ames, are you sure?” He asked.

Amy nodded, already slightly breathless. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

They kissed again, and they stumbled into Amy’s bedroom, leaving a trail of their clothes behind them.

Later, they laid side by side in her bed, shining with sweat.

Amy rested her head against his bare chest, tracing mindless patterns across it.

“So… Gabi won’t be back until late morning,” Amy told him.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. So, if you wanted to spend the night, you could. You just have to leave before 10:30,” Amy said, reaching up to press a kiss to his jawline.

“It would be my pleasure,” Jake said. “Besides, your mattress is way more comfortable than mine.”

Amy giggled and playfully swatted at him, and then snuggled further into his side, wrapping her arms around him. 

“This has been an amazing night,” She breathed happily. 

“It really has been. The sex defintely made up for that boring play you dragged me to,” He teased. 

“Jake!” Amy laughed.

“I’m kidding. But for real, we’re good at sex.”

“Stupid good,” Amy agreed, smiling.

Eventually, they drifted off to sleep, both content and happy in each other’s arms.

Amy woke up the next morning to the sun beaming through the windows, and at first, she stretched and smiled at who was next to her. But when she turned to look at the clock, her heart dropped, alarm setting in.

“Jake!” She cried. “Get up!”

“What? What happened?” He mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

“We overslept. It’s 10:30. Gina’s going to be here with Gabi any minute. You have to go,” Amy told him, scrambling to pull on shorts and a t-shirt, and wrap her robe tightly around herself.

“Oh, shit. Ames, I’m so sorry,” Jake said, now wide awake, and rushing to the hallway to gather his clothes. 

“No, it’s okay. It’s not your fault,” Amy promised, giving him a quick smile, despite the fact that her eyes were filled with slight panic. 

She sent a text to Gina letting her know to keep Gabi there for a few more minutes, hoping and praying that Gina didn’t have her phone on silent like she so often did.

Jake haphazardly tugged on his shirt and pants from the night before, tossing his jacket over his arm, and when Amy opened the front door to usher him out, they were met with Gina and Gabi on the other side, still in pajamas, looking startled.

Both parties froze for a second, unsure of what to do. Gina’s eyes went wide with realization, and she gave Amy a thumbs up and an approving nod, and in response Amy flashed her a pointed look that said  _ not the time!  _

“Gina,” Amy spoke, as calmly and casually as possible. “Did you see my text?”

Gina pulled her phone out of the pocket of her hoodie and looked. “Hm. It appears I did not.” 

“Mom? What is Officer Jake doing here?” Gabi asked.

“Uh…” Amy started, totally at a loss for what to say.

“Did he sleep here last night?” Gabriella pressed, eyes darting back in forth in confusion. “Are you guys boyfriend and girlfriend?”

Jake and Amy exchanged a glance. Although they were dating, and having a great time, they hadn’t exactly had the conversation of whether they were officially exclusive boyfriend and girlfriend. 

“Mom!” Gabriella cried, looking at Amy. 

“Oh, wow, look at the time. I’ve got to go. Jake, I’ll walk you out,” Gina said, seeing that this was a conversation that neither Jake nor herself needed to be present for. 

“Right, thanks,” Jake said, shaking his head in an attempt to pull himself out of the state of shock he was previously in.

Amy mouthed a “thank you,” to Gina, and said, “Jake, I’m so sorry. I promise I’ll call you later.”

He smiled, nodded, and waved goodbye. 

Amy took a deep breath and closed the door behind her daughter once she had come inside.

“What’s going on?” Gabi asked again, eyebrows furrowing together.

“Let’s sit on the couch,” Amy offered.

Gabriella complied, and both mother and daughter sat criss-cross on the gray couch, facing each other.

“So… Jake and I have been seeing each other for a few weeks now,” Amy started.

“Like dating?” 

Amy nodded. “Yeah. We’ve gone on a few dates. And last night, he did sleep here. We saw a play, and then he came inside so we could hang out some more, and then it was so late, we decided it would be easier for him to just spend the night,” Amy explained, leaving out the details for obvious reasons. 

“So when he brought me medicine that one night… Was it actually because you guys were dating?” Gabi asked, putting the pieces together in her mind. 

“We had just started to then but… yes,” Amy nodded again. “Are you okay? Talk to me,” She prompted, rubbing a hand up and down Gabriella’s arm.

“I’m okay. I’m not mad. It’s just… why didn’t you tell me?” Gabi said, hurt coming over her face. 

“Oh, baby. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to protect you,” Amy said, taking one of her daughter’s hands in her own. “When your dad left, it was awful. He’s put you through so much. I didn’t want you to know about Jake, because if you got close to him, and then something happened, you might get hurt again. I couldn’t let that happen. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, it does,” Gabriella declared. “You’re not going to break up, are you?”

“I’m definitely not planning on it,” Amy smiled. “But we’ve only been dating for a few weeks, and you never know what could happen. Sometimes bad things unexpectedly happen.”

Gabi nodded, and smiled, reaching over to wrap her mom in a hug. “Thank you for protecting me.”

Amy blinked against the tears in her eyes and squeezed her in a tight hug. “Of course.”

When they pulled away, Amy kissed her forehead and said, “How about this. In a few months, if Jake and I are still together, you can start to spend a little bit of time with him, only if you want to. Does that sound okay?”

“That sounds good,” Gabi agreed. “He seems really nice. Is he nice to you?”

“He’s very nice,” Amy confirmed.

“And does he make you happy?”

“Yes, he does.”

“Good. I just want you to be happy, Mom,” Gabi told her, looking up at Amy with big brown eyes.

Amy pulled her in for another hug, tearing up once again and telling her that she loved her. 

Later that afternoon, as Gabi was curled up in her room reading, Amy pushed the door to her own room closed, and FaceTimed Jake.

He picked up after a few rings, and Amy breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately started rambling. “Jake, I’m so sorry about earlier. I should have set an alarm, but I usually wake up so early. I guess I was just tired-”

“Tired from all of our stupid good sex?” Jake smirked.

“Jake! This is serious, I feel so bad and-”

Jake cut her off again. “Ames, it’s okay. You don’t have to apologize to me. Is Gabriella okay?”

Amy’s heart soared a little at the fact that Jake was concerned for her daughter. “Yeah, she’s okay. I explained to her that we’re dating, but I hadn’t told her because I wanted to protect her. You know after what happened with Teddy and everything… But she’s okay. She said she just wants me to be happy.”

Jake smiled. “And you’re happy? With me?”

Amy nodded. “The happiest.”

“Me too. And you know, when Gabriella asked earlier if we were boyfriend and girlfriend… It made me realize we had never actually had that conversation. So…” He began, propping up his phone against his dresser, getting down on one knee, and asking, in the most dramatic voice he could muster, “Amy Santiago, will you be my girlfriend?”

“Get up, you weirdo,” Amy laughed. “But yes, I will.”

“Good,” Jake smiled, picking the phone back up and settling on his bed.

“Good,” Amy echoed, smiling wider than she possibly ever had. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it! I can't believe we're already 6 chapters into this story! And yes, I added the "stupid good" sex comment as an allude to when they first slept together on the show. I like to throw in little references/lines from the actual show when I can :) Thank you all for reading and sticking with this story!! I really appreciate all of the kudos & comments <3


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 7!! This chapter is a little long, and I considered breaking it up into two chapters, but it just made more sense this way. I hope you all enjoy!!

The warm September sun had quickly faded into an Autumn chill. Halloween came and went, and in mid-November the first snowfall had settled onto the streets.

Jake and Amy had fallen into a rhythm: Friday or Saturday nights were date nights, they FaceTimed every day, and any other time that they had free, they spent it together. Despite their crazy schedules, their relationship came easily. They never ran out of anything to talk about, they laughed constantly, and managed to effortlessly orchestrate romantic moments no matter what they were doing. 

The couple was strong, and solid. And because of this, by mid-November, Amy felt like it was time for Jake and Gabriella to spend some time together. Jake had become such a big part of Amy’s life, and the mother felt like it only made sense to share that with her daughter. She trusted the curly-haired cop more than anyone, and knew that he wouldn’t hurt Gabriella the way that Teddy had. 

She talked to Gabi and Jake separately, and they both excitedly agreed that they wanted to spend time together. Breakfast on Saturday at a nearby diner was decided upon, and all three of them were looking forward to it. 

But on the morning of, as Amy and Gabriella were walking to the diner to meet Jake, Gabriella noticed her mom was quiet, and seemed nervous.

“Mom?” She asked. “Are you okay?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Amy responded, sticking her hands in her coat pockets in an attempt to warm them up. 

“You seem nervous. And you keep biting your lip. Which you do when you’re nervous,” Gabi pointed out.

Amy smiled. “Alright, you caught me. I’m a little nervous. But I’m sure it’s going to go great.”

Gabi opened her mouth, and then closed it again. She was quiet for a moment, and then hesitantly, asked, “Are you… Are you thinking about Dad?”

“Kind of,” Amy admitted.

“But Jake’s not like Dad, right?”

“No, honey, of course not,” Amy responded. “He would never do what Dad did.”

“Then why are you so nervous?” Gabi questioned, pushing up her glasses and gazing at her mom.

Amy sighed deeply. “I don’t know. I just don’t want you to get hurt. Jake is the best, but you just can’t predict the future, you know?”

Gabriella nodded thoughtfully, and then said, “Well, how about we just focus on today then? We can’t control what’s gonna happen in the future. But we can make today a good day.”

Amy stared down at her daughter in slight disbelief, and put an arm around her. “When did you get so smart?”

“I read a lot of books,” Gabi shrugged, causing her mom to chuckle and squeeze her tightly to her side. 

When they arrived at the diner, Jake was already sitting at a table, and quickly stood up to greet Amy with a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey, Gabriella,” He said, smiling at her warmly and pulling out her chair for her.

“Hi Jake. Thank you,” Gabriella smiled, taking a seat and draping her light pink coat over the back of her chair. 

“Of course, my lady,” Jake said, giving a dramatic bow, sending Gabriella into a fit of giggles.

Amy smiled brightly. They had been there for all of two minutes, and already Jake was making her daughter laugh. She felt the nervousness leave her body as the conversation continued.

“So, you’re in fourth grade, correct?” Jake asked, looking at Gabriella across the table.

She nodded. “Yeah. I like it a lot better than third grade.”

“Really? Why’s that?” He asked. 

Amy couldn’t help but notice how genuinely interested he sounded in what her daughter had to say. And she could tell Gabi was pleased with his attentiveness and friendliness.

“We get to learn so much more than we did last year. We’ve learned how to add, subtract, multiply,  _ and _ divide fractions. Plus we get more homework. I really like homework,” Gabi told him.

“That’s awesome. You’re a lot like your Mom,” Jake smiled in Amy’s direction, thinking back to a month ago during a FaceTime call when she showed him all of her perfectly organized binders.

“Yeah. She describes me as her ‘mini-me’ sometimes,” Gabriella told him. “But I love being like her. She’s the best.”

“She is,” Jake agreed.

Amy took both of their hands and squeezed, trying her best not to cry, and decided that these two people were quite possibly her favorite people in the entire world. 

After the waitress came to their table and they all ordered chocolate chip pancakes, Jake was eager to get to know more about Gabriella.

“Now, Gabi, I know you love to read, but what’s your favorite book?” He asked, taking a sip of coffee.

“That’s such a hard question!” She exclaimed. “I really like  _ Wonder _ , but I think the  _ Harry Potter  _ series is my favorite. Have you read them yet?”

“Uh, no, not exactly… But Goblet of Fire was on TV last week and I watched it!” Jake said.

Gabi sighed as if this was the worst possible answer she could have gotten. 

Amy laughed, and interjected. “She feels very passionate about books always being better than movies.”

“Because they are! The  _ Harry Potter _ movies are good, but the books are  _ so _ much better!” Gabriella declared. “Promise me you’ll read them eventually.”

“Deal,” Jake said, and stuck out his hand so the 9-year-old could shake it, making his agreement official.

“You know, she’s gonna hold you to that,” Amy pointed out, with a smile on her face.

“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” He said, laughing when Gabi nodded rather intensely. 

Their stacks of warm, fluffy, pancakes were set in front of them, and as they poured maple syrup over them, the conversation continued between them. Jake told Gabriella all about his job as a police officer. She listened intently, nodding excitedly and asking more questions when she was curious about something. All three of them discussed anything and everything, from their favorite foods, to what they would do with a million dollars, and Jake always managed to make Gabi laugh. 

After Jake paid the bill, and was waiting for the waitress to bring back his credit card, there was a brief silence, and he took the opportunity to talk about Thanksgiving, which was in a couple weeks. 

“So, Ames, I know we’re doing Thanksgiving separately with our families this year, but my squad is doing a Thanksgiving thing at my Captain’s house the day after Black Friday. Everyone is bringing food, and it’ll be really fun. Charles and Terry have kids around Gabi’s age, and they’ll be there. You guys should come, if you want,” Jake offered.

“Are you sure?” Amy asked. “I don’t want to intrude.” 

Jake waved her off. “You won’t be, I promise. You can bring Gina too! I think you’ll fit in perfectly. I talk about you, like, all the time. So I’m sure they’d love to meet you.”

Amy looked over at her daughter, and was met with a wide smile and an enthusiastic nod. “Alright, we’ll be there. And I’ll talk to Gina. Thanks, Jake.”

“Of course,” Jake said, grinning. He couldn’t wait to show everyone his incredible girlfriend and her incredible daughter. 

As Amy and Gabriella walked back to their apartment, the younger of the two had such energy and excitement in her step that her french braids were swinging behind her. 

“Mom, he’s so nice,” Gabi gushed. “And he’s so funny!”

“So you approve?” Amy asked.

“Definitely,” Gabi exclaimed. “I can see why he makes you so happy.”

“I’m really glad you like him,” Amy said, pressing a kiss to her daughter’s head.

“I love him,” Gabi agreed, still full of joy.

Amy felt her heart palpate for a moment as she realized that she loved him too. Her and Jake hadn’t exchanged those three little words yet, but Amy found herself smiling down at the snow on the sidewalk at the thought of saying it. 

\-----------

Thanksgiving Day rolled around, and as Amy ran her straightener through her hair, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread pool in her stomach. She always spent the holiday at her parents’ house, along with her seven brothers, all of their spouses and children, and a plethora of her aunts and uncles and cousins. She loved her family, she really did, but when they were all crammed into one house, it was always overwhelming, and chaotic. A fight almost always broke out- they were mostly verbal, but on a handful of occasions, between her brothers, they were physical. And they were lucky if there was only one fight.

Amy had been insisting for years that they should get together in smaller groups, but her mom declared that that was absurd, and insisted every year that it would be different this time. Yet, every year, it was the exact same pattern of arguing. 

She was also dreading the interrogation from her parents that was coming her way. Every Thanksgiving, her parents asked if she was dating anyone. And every year, it truthfully had been a no. But this year she knew she had to tell them that she was dating Jake, which she knew would lead to a thorough grilling, and thorough judgement.

Her parents, Victor and Camila Santiago, had incredibly high standards. Her father was a doctor, and her mother was a lawyer. All seven of her brothers had gone to either medical school or law school, and despite the fact that Amy was just as smart as all of them, and incredibly passionate about her job, her parents still saw her decision to be a teacher as a “dissapointment.” 

She felt like they had finally gotten over her career choice, but when they found out that she was dating a cop, who was goofy and silly, and lived in a messy one bedroom apartment, she could only imagine the disapproving attitudes she would be met with. 

An hour and a half later, after she had pulled on a red dress, braided Gabi’s hair, and made the twenty minute drive, they arrived at her parents’ house. 

She turned off the car and sat still for a minute, taking a deep breath.

“Do you think there’s going to be an argument this year?” Gabi asked, clutching the book she had brought with.

“I'm sure there will be,” Amy sighed.

“Well, at least there’s pie,” Gabi pointed out.

Amy laughed, and felt her spirits brighten a little. 

The first hour consisted of Amy making her way around the house, while Gabriella played with her cousins. Amy greeted people, looked at a ton of pictures of her nephews and nieces, held a couple babies, and listened to stories from various aunts. 

Eventually, it was time to eat. Amy found that her place card was right across from her parents, and groaned internally, but plastered a smile on her face as she set down her plate of food, and took a seat at the table. 

“So, Amy, you look well,” Camila said, as she sat down next to Victor.

“Thank you,” Amy said politely, taking a bite of mashed potatoes.

“Are you dating anyone?” Victor asked.

Amy did her best to keep her face from looking as irritated as she felt. Her father tried to play it off as casual conversation, but she knew it was far from that. 

“Actually, yes. I am,” Amy responded, immediately holding her breath afterwards.

Her parents exchanged a look. 

“Oh, I see. What’s his name?” Camila asked, excitement evident in her voice.

“Jake,” Amy said simply.

“What does he do?” Victor questioned, and Amy knew this would be the beginning of the end.

“He’s a police officer,” Amy replied, taking a sip of water, and watching her parents’ happy faces crumble into a disapproving glare, that they tried, and failed, to cover up.

“That’s… nice. We were really just hoping you would be with someone of a more… suitable career,” Victor said.

“Dad, please don’t start,” Amy pleaded. She gripped her napkin tightly in her lap to keep the anger she felt bubbling up at bay. 

“Well, honey, it’s just that… Maybe if you would date a lawyer, or doctor, you would have better luck. Teddy was-”

“Do  _ not _ bring Teddy into this,” Amy warned, cutting off her mom. “Teddy could have been the President of the United States and he still would have left me. He was a crappy person, and that had nothing to do with his lack of a pHd. Jake’s nothing like him.”

“No need to get so defensive, sweetheart,” Victor said, holding up his hands. “Why didn’t you bring Jake? We would have loved to meet him”

Amy scoffed in disbelief. “Maybe because you’re acting like this! I knew you were going to be critical of him. Besides, he’s at his Mom’s house, where he’s probably not being subjected to crap like this.”

“Excuse me-” Camila began.

“Why can’t you just be happy for me? He makes me really happy. Is that not enough?” Amy asked.

Camila and Victor fell silent for a moment. 

“We just don’t want you to make the same mistake you did with Teddy. We’re just worried that you don’t always make the best choices,” Camila said, trying to reach out a hand toward Amy, to which Amy did not accept.

“Are you really still upset that I’m a teacher?” 

“Honey, it’s just that everyone else in the family-”

“I don’t care what everyone else in the family does! Being a teacher was my choice, and it makes me happy. And so does Jake. I’m not going to put up with this,” Amy declared, throwing her napkin onto the table and standing up. “Gabi, we’re leaving!”

“Amy, wait-” Camila said, standing up and rushing toward her daughter.

Amy ignored her, only stopping in her tracks to turn around and say in a hushed, yet venomous tone, “Also, Teddy was not my fault. You and Dad have blamed me for him leaving for years, and I’m done with it.”

Gabi came up next to Amy’s side, a little wide-eyed, and grabbed her hand.

“Amy, please don’t go,” Camila begged.

Amy felt the eyes of fifty Santiagos boring into her as she turned toward the door. The house had fallen silent, except for the light chatter of the little kids. 

“Happy Thanksgiving, Mom,” Amy said quietly, sadness replacing the rage in her eyes. She walked out the door, and immediately slumped against the steering wheel when she got in the car.

Gabi carefully reached out and placed a hand on Amy’s arm. “Are you okay, Mom?”

Amy looked up, and smiled weakly. “Yeah, baby, I’m okay. Just some Thanksgiving drama.”

“Why were you fighting with Abuela and Abuelo?” Gabi asked, worriedly fiddling with the corner of her book.

“It’s complicated. But it’ll all be okay, I promise,” Amy told her, not wanting to upset her daughter. “You ready to go home?”

Gabi nodded, somewhat pleased that she could get away from all the noise of her cousins, and read her book.

As soon as they got home, Gabriella disappeared into her room, needing quiet after a chaotic afternoon, and Amy sent Jake a text asking him to call her whenever he had a chance.

Only a few minutes after the text was sent, Amy received an incoming FaceTime call from Jake. She sat back against the pillows on her bed, and accepted the call. 

“Hey, babe!” Jake greeted. He was sitting on the front steps of his mom’s house, cheeks reddening from the wind. 

“Hi. I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Amy said.

“No, don’t worry about it. My mom is currently singing karaoke with her sisters, and honestly, it was getting weird,” Jake admitted, laughing a little.

Amy just nodded, giving him a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Jake picked up on this right away, and frowned. “Are you home already? Is everything okay?”

Amy took a shaky breath, and found that tears were filling her eyes. 

“Ames,” Jake said softly. “What’s wrong?”

“My parents and I… We got into an argument,” Amy confessed sadly, tears now falling down her cheeks. “They’re just never happy for me unless everything I do is up to their standards.”

“Babe, I’m so sorry,” Jake said, feeling his heart break a little as he watched her cry. “Is there anything I can do?”

“No, it’s okay. I’m sorry I’m such a mess,” Amy sniffled, wiping her face.

“Hey, don’t apologize. Maybe in a few days, try calling them? Or talking to them in person, and just try to smooth things over.”

“Maybe,” Amy nodded.

“And Ames, as long as you’re happy, and Gabi’s happy, that’s all that really matters, right?”

At that, Amy found herself genuinely smiling for the first time all day. 

\------

Saturday rolled around, and unlike on Thanksgiving Day, Amy found herself really looking forward to Thanksgiving with Jake and his squad. She was a little nervous, but the good kind of nervous. 

Not the kind of nervous she had felt on Thursday before going to her parents’ house, which had been equivalent to how she felt before she got a root canal a few years ago.

On Saturday, she was actually excited, as was Gabi. They were bordering on giddy as they both got ready in Amy’s room. Gina had joined them, and was sitting in front of the mirror curling her hair. 

“You two really are such nerds,” Gina observed as she watched them exchange a gleeful smile for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past twenty minutes.

“We’re just excited. You should try it sometime,” Amy playfully remarked.

“I am excited, I’m just being cool about it,” Gina shrugged. 

Amy had decided to wear the bright yellow dress she had worn on her first date with Jake, and when she stepped into Captain Holt’s house, she felt as glowy and bright as the color of her dress. 

Amy, Gina, and Gabi were immediately met with yelling as Holt opened the door, but it wasn’t like the yelling that had happened a few days ago. It was fun, and not serious, and the kind that was followed by deep laughter, instead of more yelling. 

“Hello, I am Captain Raymond Holt, and this is my husband Kevin. Welcome to our home,” Holt greeted, shaking each of their hands.

“Thank you so much for having us,” Amy said.

Holt cocked his head a little bit when he shook Gabi’s hand. “You have a strong grip for a child. I am quite impressed.”

“My mom taught me how to give a proper handshake,” Gabi informed him.

“I see. Well, then Peralta made a good choice,” Holt said, nodding at Amy, causing her to smile widely.

“Please, come in,” Kevin said, and the three of them made their way inside.

Gabi spotted Cagney, Lacey, Ava, and Nikolaj sitting together and went over to join them, Gina immediately began introducing herself as the “human form of the one hundred emoji” to everyone, and Jake lit up when he saw Amy.

“I’m so glad you could make it,” He said, giving her a kiss, and then drawing her in for a tight hug. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. I promise. I’m really glad I’m here,” She spoke into his shoulder.

They pulled back, and they hooked arms, walking into the living room where the rest of the squad was sitting on the couch.

“Everyone, this is Amy. Amy, this is Charles, Terry, Rosa, Hitchcock, and Scully,” Jake said, gesturing to each of them.

Amy waved, and they all greeted her warmly. She followed Jake over to Rosa and Charles, and was pleasantly surprised with how easy she found it to join in on the conversations. It was refreshing to see everyone getting along, and accepting each other; No judgement or interrogation sessions.

And she couldn’t help but laugh when she overheard Charles reminding Jake that he was his best friend, and that he better not replace him with Gabriella. This was followed by Jake saying, in an exasperated tone, “Charles, what?!”

When they were all sitting around the big dining room table, with plates full of delicious looking food, Holt asked if anyone would like to make a toast, and Amy volunteered.

She stood up, holding her glass of wine, and smiled. “I just wanted to say thank you so much for inviting me. And my daughter and my best friend. Thanksgiving with my own family was a bit of a nightmare but… This has been really fun. You’re all very nice and funny and… I’m really glad I’m here. So, thank you.”

“To chosen family,” Holt declared with a nod, lifting up his own glass.

“To chosen family!” Everyone echoed, clinking their glasses together.

After a dinner full of laughter and ridiculous banter, Amy pulled Jake into the corner of the living room while everyone was still conversing around the dining room table. 

“I can’t thank you enough for inviting me. Gabi loves the other kids, and I can tell Gina’s having a good time, and she can be difficult to please sometimes,” Amy laughed.

Jake just smiled, cupping her face and stroking her cheek with his thumb.

“This has been such a great evening and… I love you,” Amy said, hands stretching out and looping around the back of his neck.

“Ames,” He breathed. “I love you. So much.”

They kissed, slowly, and gently, pulling back so they could press their foreheads together and smile, relishing in each others’ presence, in the fact that they loved each other. 

Later that night, after she had said goodbye to the squad, she drove home with the knowledge that she had gained a whole new group of crazy friends, and with the knowledge that she loved Jake Peralta.

And he loved her too. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading!! Also, I did indeed change the careers, and the personalities of the Santiago family a bit, especially her parents, because I need to have some conflict in my story :)   
> Thank you so much for all the kudos & comments! I appreciate you all so much.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 8!! I'm sorry again that this chapter took kind of a long time for me to post. Sometimes it takes me a little while to gather inspiration for these chapters, and I want them to be as good as possible. Regardless, I hope you all enjoy!! I can't believe I'm 8 chapters into writing this story. Thank you again for all of the support!

In the couple of weeks following Thanksgiving, Jake, Amy, and Gabi had spent a lot of time together. Jake would sometimes come over in the evening, and they would all eat dinner and watch a movie together, and then when Gabi went to bed, Jake and Amy would each have a glass of wine and talk, all while tangled in each other’s arms, never enough closeness between them. 

Amy was thrilled that Jake had become such a big part of her life, and Gabi welcomed him with open arms. 

It was a Monday afternoon in early December, and Amy was straightening the desks in her classroom, when her daughter came in as usual, with an expression on her face that Amy couldn’t quite read.

“Hey. Are you okay?” Amy asked.

Gabi took a deep breath, and set her backpack down on a chair. “The father daughter dance is this weekend. And all my friends were talking about it.”

Amy looked at her sympathetically and reached for a container of wipes. “I’m sorry, baby. But we’re going to do something fun that day, right? Whatever you want to do.”

“Well…” Gabi started, wringing her hands together a little nervously. “I was thinking… What if I went with Jake?”

Amy froze, stopping in the middle of wiping down a desk, and just as she opened her mouth to say something, Gabi spoke again. 

“I know he’s not my dad, or anything. But it still could be fun! I know he might not want to…but... I thought maybe it was worth asking him? Right?” She looked up at her mom expectantly, eyes twinkling with hopefulness.

Amy paused to think for a moment, biting her lip and turning the idea around in her head. “Okay,” She declared with a nod. “I’ll call him when we get home and see if he’s okay with it.”

“Yay!” Gabi squealed, running across the room to give Amy a hug. “Thank you so much, Mom.”

Amy still was hesitant, but found herself smiling at her daughter’s excitement. “Of course.”

As soon as they got home, Gabi subtly suggested that her mom should call Jake as soon as possible, and rushed off to her room to get started on her homework.

After Amy set her bag down, and stripped off her coat and scarf, she did just that, settling down onto the couch after she pressed “call.”

He picked up on the second ring, and after they briefly chatted about their days, Amy told Jake she had a question for him.

“What’s up?” He responded.

“So… There’s this father daughter dance at school this weekend. Gabi asked today if you would want to go with her, and I told her I’d talk to you about it. You can say no if you aren’t comfortable with it. I mean, she knows you’re not her father or anything, but she just thought it might be fun but I totally understand-”

“Ames,” Jake laughed, cutting off her nervous rambling. “I would love to go to the dance with Gabi.” 

“Really?” Amy confirmed, happiness evident in her voice. 

“Yes, for sure. I love Gabi. It’ll be fun,” He told her.

“Thank you so much, Jake. You have no idea how much this means to her.”

“Hey, it’s my pleasure. How about I bring over some dinner tonight? That way I can ask her to the dance in person,” Jake suggested.

Amy smiled widely at how well he treated Gabi. “That sounds great. She’s going to be so excited.”

“Awesome. I’ll see you in a little bit. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Amy hung up the phone and found herself thrilled for her daughter. Gabi had never gotten to do any sort of “father daughter” activities growing up. Even before Teddy left, he was never attentive enough to do anything fun with Gabi. The fact that Jake, who had only been spending time with Gabi for a few weeks now, was already willing to go to a dance with her, spoke volumes about the kind of man he was.

Amy stared pensively out the window of her living room for a minute, thinking about how lucky she was to have crossed paths with Jake, and how much she loved him.

Jake came over a few hours later, and upon hearing his voice float through the apartment, Gabi rushed out of her room.

“Hey, kiddo,” Jake greeted her as he set down the takeout bags he was holding on the countertop.

“Hi, Jake,” She said back, bouncing up and down on her feet anticipatorily. 

“So, Gabi,” Jake began. “Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the father daughter dance this weekend?”

“Yes!” She exclaimed. “Yes, yes, yes! Thank you so much, Jake.”

Jake chuckled, and smiled fondly as Gabi gave him a hug.

They all sat down around the small kitchen table, and as they ate their dinner, they all discussed the upcoming dance. Gabi babbled enthusiastically about what she should wear, and who among her friends would be there, and how excited she was.

Amy watched Jake with utmost adoration as he listened intently to the 9-year-old and nodded and smiled at everything that she said. She had been nervous to let Jake into Gabi’s life, but she could see now, more crystal clear than ever, as they were eating burgers beneath the glow of her kitchen light, that it had been the right choice.

It was Wednesday afternoon, and Amy agreed to buy Gabi a new dress for the dance.

Amy, and Gina, who had joined them on their shopping excursion, were sitting on a cushioned bench by the dressing rooms, waiting for Gabi to come show them the first dress she was trying on. 

“So, you and Jake are pretty serious now, huh?” Gina inquired, speaking in a hushed voice so Gabi didn’t overhear their conversation.

“Yeah. I guess we are,” Amy shrugged, biting back a smitten smile.

“You ‘guess?’” Gina scoffed playfully. “Ames, c’mon. He’s taking your daughter to a dance. That sounds pretty serious to me. You have a good thing going here. I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks, Gina,” Amy smiled, touched at the sincerity. 

Gabi came out of the dressing room in a dark blue long sleeved dress, and stood in front of Gina and Amy, inviting them to voice their opinions. 

“You look beautiful!” Amy exclaimed, whereas Gina was rapidly shaking her head.

“Nope, that’s too boring,” Gina said.

“Gina!” Amy scolded.

“Hey, you brought me along for honesty didn’t you?”

“Actually, you saw us leaving and kind of invited yourself,” Amy retorted. “You look great, honey,” Amy said to Gabi.

“Actually… I kind of agree with Aunt Gina. And I do appreciate the honesty,” Gabi smiled sheepishly. “I don’t want to wear a boring dress!” 

“See?” Gina said, with some triumph. “Go try on the next one.”

All three of them agreed that the next few dresses were cute, but not “the one.” However, when Gabi came out in dress number five, Gina and Amy both gasped, and Amy pressed a hand to her heart.

“It’s beautiful,” Amy said, looking at her daughter lovingly.

“It’s perfect. For real,” Gina agreed.

The dress was a soft shade of light pink, and was a high-low cut, reaching above her knees in the front, and flowing longer in the back. The top part of the dress had short sleeves, and was covered in lace.

Gabi spun around, grinning at the way her dress danced around her. “You really think it’s perfect?”

“I do,” Amy nodded, voice suddenly wobbly as she realized how grown up her daughter looked. 

“I do too. I think I want to get this one,” Gabi declared, grinning as she went back into the dressing room to change.

“Dude, are you crying?” Gina asked Amy, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice.

“ _ No _ ,” Amy insisted, but the tear that rolled down her cheek betrayed her. She tried to inconspicuously wipe it away, but Gina saw it and chuckled.

“You’re such a mom. I love it.”

Amy joined Gina’s laughter, because she did feel a little ridiculous for crying in the middle of the children’s section of a department store, but she was indeed a mom, and the thought of her daughter growing up always made her emotional. And now she found herself getting extra emotional at the thought of her daughter growing up with Jake in her life.

When Friday rolled around, Amy could tell a lot of the girls in her class were extra chatty by the end of the day, all looking forward to the dance tonight. And when Gabi came into her classroom, Amy could tell she was practically buzzing with excitement. 

That evening, after they had a very quick dinner, (“Mom, come on, I have to get ready!” Gabi had exclaimed after fifteen minutes,) they went into Amy’s room and set to work. 

Amy french braided two sections of Gabi’s hair halfway back, and let the rest of her natural waves fall around her shoulders. She brushed mascara onto her eyelashes, dusted a little blush on her cheeks, and let her use some lip gloss. 

Gabi had just slipped on a pair of white ankle boots and put her coat on, when there was a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it!” Gabi exclaimed, scrambling out of Amy’s room and over to the front door. 

She opened it, and Jake stood there, smiling, in a suit, holding a clear box.

“Hi!” Gabi greeted, grinning from ear to ear.

“Hey. You look beautiful,” Jake told her, stepping inside as she opened the door wider.

“Thank you! What’s that?” Gabriella asked as she pointed to the box he was holding, curiosity getting the best of her.

He opened it up, and gently took Gabi’s hand in his, rolling up her coat sleeve a little bit. “This is a corsage,” He said, slipping the white and pink floral arrangement over her wrist. “I thought you might like it.”

“I love it. It even matches my dress! Thank you so much,” Gabi said.

After Amy took a million pictures, they said goodbye to her and made their way to Brooklyn Gardens Elementary School. 

When they walked into the gym, they were both amazed at how it had been transformed. Golden lights and paper snowflakes hung from the ceiling, and tables covered in white linens each had a floral centerpiece. Tables with an array of desserts were pressed up against the walls, and a large group of fathers and daughters were already dancing to the music in the middle of the room.

After hanging their coats over the backs of two chairs, they made their way out to the dancefloor, bouncing to the upbeat music that was playing through the speakers. After a few minutes, a group of Gabi’s friends saw her, and energetically bounded to where she was standing, greeting her excitedly. 

“Hi, Gabi! Is this your dad?” One of them asked, pointing at Jake.

Jake swallowed nervously, ready to give the explanation he had rehearsed in his head, but before he could, Gabi spoke up.

“No. This is Jake.”

“Oh. Is he your uncle? Or step dad?” Another one of her friends asked.

“No. He’s… He’s just Jake,” Gabi said looking back at Jake with a smile. “But he’s the best. He got me this!” She said, holding out her hand and showing her friends her corsage, as a chorus of admiration rang out among the young girls.

Gabi and Jake went back to dancing, and her friends and their dads joined them. Eventually, after a lot of jumping and singing, and one Cupid Shuffle, they got tired, and grabbed punch and cupcakes, and sat down at a table, falling into a conversation about the latest book Gabi had read. Ten minutes later, a slow, pretty, song filled the gymnasium, and fathers and daughters started making their way back out to the dancefloor. 

Jake stood up, and held out his hand to Gabi. “May I have this dance?”

“Yes,” Gabi giggled, allowing Jake to lead her out to the middle of the gym.

They grabbed hands and swayed gently to the music, and Jake twirled her a few times, much to her delight. 

As the slow dancing continued, Gabi looked up at him, and said, “Jake? Thank you for coming with me. It’s been really fun. And thank you for being so nice to my mom, and to me. I’m really happy that you’re pretty much a part of our family now.”

Jake cleared his throat, choked up at her sincere expression. “I’m really happy about that too.”

By the end of the night, after more dancing, Gabi was so exhausted that Jake gave her a piggyback ride as they walked home.

Amy opened the door after Jake knocked, smiling at Gabi’s tired face leaning against Jake’s shoulder.

“Hi Mom,” Gabi mumbled sleepily. “It was so much fun.” 

“I’m glad,” Amy laughed, peeling her off of Jake’s back, and gently telling her to go brush her teeth.

“Goodnight Jake,” Gabi called as she shuffled into the bathroom.

“Goodnight, Gabi,” He called back.

“Thank you again, Jake. I love you,” Amy breathed, leaning in to give him a kiss. 

Jake cupped her face, looking at her with a content expression. “I love you too. I had a really good time. You have an amazing kid.”

They kissed once more, wrapped each other in a tight hug, and said goodnight.

After Amy helped Gabi wash the makeup off her face, and comb out her hair, the young girl changed out of her dress and into warm pajamas, and crawled into bed, half asleep the entire time. 

Amy pulled the covers up and tucked her in, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Just as she was about to turn off the light and slip out of the room, Gabi quietly said, “Mom?”

Amy turned back around, kneeling beside her bed and stroking her hair. “Yes, baby?”

“Just so you know, if you ever want to marry him… I would like that,” Gabi told her, eyes closed.

Amy smiled and simply pressed another kiss to her forehead, but as she made her way out to the living room, she stopped, feeling her heart swell with love. She knew it was much too early to think about marriage, but the thought of one day possibly being married to Jake Peralta made her very, very happy. 

  
  



	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again about the wait! But I'm finally posting! This is a Christmas chapter and I definitely got into the Christmas spirit writing it, and now I wish it was Christmas, lol. I hope you enjoy and it bring you a bit of joy!

“Jake, can you please tell me where we’re going?” Amy asked for the third time that night, looking over at Jake from the passenger’s seat and batting her eyelashes sweetly, in hopes of actually getting an answer this time.

“ _ Ames _ ,” Jake insisted. “This is a surprise Christmas Eve Eve Eve date. Emphasis on  _ surprise _ .” He smiled and took her hand in his, bringing it up to his mouth to place a kiss onto the back of it. 

Amy sighed. “I’m not the best with surprises. I’m a little bit of a control freak.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Jake said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

She playfully rolled her eyes, and asked again, “Can you at least give me a hint? What if you’re kidnapping me?”

“Babe, I’m a  _ cop _ \- Hey, look, we’re here!” He exclaimed, parallel parking in an open spot on the side of the road.

Amy looked around and saw that there was a theatre across the street, and her eyes lit up. Jake came around to open her door, and she stepped out into the cold evening air, smiling in anticipation. He pulled two tickets out of his wallet, and handed one to Amy. She read what it said, and beamed. 

“The Nutcracker?” She looked to him for confirmation.

“Yep. I remember last month you were talking about how you used to see it every year when you were a kid. I hope you like it. I mean, it’s nothing fancy, it’s a small ballet company, but they got really good reviews online and-”

Amy cut him off with a kiss, hands cupping his face and glossy lips pressing into his. “I love it so much. Thank you, Jake.”

He smiled widely, and laced their fingers together as they crossed the street and made their way into the theatre.

The ballet was really good, but Jake found himself watching Amy more than he was watching the sugarplum fairies onstage. Just like when they had seen the play back in autumn, Amy was completely infatuated with the story. Her eyes danced back and forth across the stage, watching the graceful ballerinas intently as they brought the story to life, and a faint smile remained on her face throughout the duration of the ballet.

When it was over, after the applause died down, she immediately turned to Jake and told him how much she loved it and how amazing it was, and how it really felt like Christmas now. 

They stepped into the lobby, and as soon as Amy slid on her coat over her dark green dress, Jake looped their arms together and started gently pulling her toward the door.

“C’mon Ames, we have to go to the next part of our date,” He told her.

“There’s a next part?” Amy asked, a curious smile spreading across her face.

Jake nodded excitedly, and led her out the door. They went to the nearest coffee shop, each got a hot chocolate, and when they got back to the car, Amy didn’t ask where they were going this time. Turns out Jake was pretty good at surprises.

After driving for a little while, they turned onto a street lined with big houses, and Amy gasped. The houses, and their front yards, were covered in lights, and inflatable santas, and light up candy canes, and plastic reindeer. Some of the lights flashed in patterns, others remained a still golden color, blanketing the houses with a holiday glow. 

“It’s beautiful,” She breathed.

“I come to this street every year by myself around Christmas time,” Jake explained as he pulled over and parked the car. “But this year, I thought I’d bring you.”

They stepped out of the car, still sipping their hot chocolates, and held each other closely as they strolled slowly down the quiet street, taking in all of the decorations surrounding them. 

And by some means of Christmas magic, tiny white flakes began to fall from the sky, landing softly on top of the half-melted snow already on the ground.

Jake and Amy turned to look at each other when the snow started falling, eyes widening in amazement, and giddy laughter erupting from both of them.

They both leaned in for a gentle kiss, snow and lights and Christmas cheer swirling around them. They pulled away, meeting each other’s eyes.

“Merry Christmas, Ames,” Jake said gently.

“Merry Christmas, babe,” Amy echoed, nestling against his chest, and wishing she could stay in this moment forever.

The next two days were a blur of holiday activities. The day after their date was the day of Captain Holt’s Christmas party. Amy, along with Gina, and Gabi, attended the party and were immediately greeted excitedly by Jake and the rest of the squad. There was cookie decorating for the kids (Charles’s idea. Captain Holt was horrified by the idea of dessert, just in general,) and the adults drank wine and told stories (Amy found out that Rosa had gone to business school  _ and _ had her pilot’s license?!) and participated in a white elephant gift exchange, and laughed for most of the night. By the end of the night, despite the fact that no one had had more than a glass of wine, everyone ended up singing Christmas carols in Captain Holt’s living room. Everyone was incredibly off-key, but Amy still thought it was the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard.

Christmas Eve was spent with Amy’s family, just like it had been every year. Amy had called her parents a couple weeks ago after not speaking to them since the big Thanksgiving fight, and they had patched things up and apologized. Although, Amy was relieved when Jake said he was going to spend Christmas Eve with his mom. She had forgiven her parents, but she still wasn’t ready to introduce Jake to them. 

Despite what had happened at the last family gathering, Amy had actually been looking forward to spending time with her family. Maybe it was the Christmas spirit, but Christmas Eve never ended the way Thanksgiving always ended. Gabi had fun with her cousins, and opening presents, and there was a lot of good food, and Christmas music playing from her dad’s old record player.

The next morning, Jake came over bright and early, carrying presents, and still in his pajamas, so he could spend Christmas morning with them. 

They all sat around the small Christmas tree by the couch, and when Jake tore the wrapping paper off one of his gifts from Amy, he found a snowglobe, with little figurines inside of a man and a woman, and they were kissing, and there were little houses around them, covered in what looked to be lights.

“I saw it yesterday in a window when I was out getting coffee. It reminded me of our date the other night,” Amy explained. “I felt like we were in a snowglobe when we were looking at those houses, and I just wanted to stay there forever. I figured this was the next best thing.”

“It’s perfect. I love it,” Jake told her earnestly, already thinking about how he’s going to put it on the table next to his bed, so he can see it everyday. 

She kissed his cheek, and then Gabi opened her present from Jake, squealing excitedly when there was a stack of books underneath the wrapping paper.

“Thank you so much, Jake!” She exclaimed, scrambling across the carpet to give him a hug. “How did you know those were the ones I wanted?”

“I just knew,” He shrugged in mock slyness, winking in Amy’s direction.

Gabi pulled back and looked at him skeptically. “Did my mom send you a list of them?”

“...Yes,” Jake admitted.

Gabi giggled, and gave him another hug. “Well, I love them. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” He smiled. 

After all the presents were open, Jake stood up and suggested, “How about we make some pancakes?”

“Yes!” Gabi exclaimed, following him into the kitchen. “But only if you make them.”

“Hey!” Amy frowned from the living room, where she was stuffing torn wrapping paper into a garbage bag.

“No offense, Mom… But you aren’t the best cook…” Gabi told her.

“But I can make pancakes!” Amy said.

“Didn’t you burn them a few weeks ago?” Jake reminded her, thinking back to when he had come over for breakfast one day, and the kitchen was filled with so much smoke that they ended up going to a diner instead.

“I’m telling you, something was wrong with the stove!” She insisted. 

Gabi and Jake just looked at her, blinked a few times, and Amy gave up. “Alright, fine. You guys can make the pancakes. But I get to pick the Christmas movie we watch.”

“Deal,” Jake agreed.

“Can we add chocolate chips?” Gabi asked, holding up a bag she had pulled from the cabinet. 

“Uh, yeah! I wouldn’t allow you to  _ not  _ add chocolate chips,” Jake said.

Gabi grinned, and as they set to work making the pancakes, Amy finished cleaning up the wrapping paper, and paused for a minute to watch them. Jake was patient as Gabi gathered all of the ingredients, and when she set the flour bag down too hard and a cloud of white powder erupted into the air and covered their faces, he burst out laughing, and she joined him. Every time Jake spent time with Gabi, Amy was reminded just how lucky she truly was.

After breakfast, and a day spent watching movies, they ordered Chinese takeout for dinner, and Rosa and Gina came over. They all sat around the kitchen table and ate, Christmas music playing softly in the background, which Rosa insisted they turn off because she “just wanted this ridiculous holiday crap to end,” but Amy caught her humming along to one of the songs later.

After a night full of chatter and laughter, Gina and Rosa left, Jake and Amy shared a long goodnight kiss, and he wished her a Merry Christmas as he shut the door behind him.

And Amy decided that it was by far the merriest Christmas she had ever had. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter didn't have a lot of dialogue and was very fluffy and a bit plotless haha, however there is a little bit of drama coming next chapter...  
> Also I really just wanted to write a Christmas chapter, because I love Christmas, and I love writing sweet, fluffy moments :) Thank you so much for reading!!!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 10! I can't believe I only have 2 more chapters left. Enjoy!

“Thank you so much for helping, babe,” Amy said as she took the stack of paper plates covered in cupcake crumbs out of Jake’s hands and tossed them into the garbage. 

“It’s my pleasure. Besides, I’m not sure you could handle all these fourth graders by yourself. They seem vicious,” Jake teased.

Amy playfully swatted at his chest and rolled her eyes, but gave him a kiss on the cheek anyway before putting half empty liters of soda into the fridge. 

Gabi was turning ten in four days, but because her birthday fell on a school night, she was having her birthday party on a Saturday. Six of her friends had come over to spend the night, and Amy’s kitchen had quickly become littered with pizza boxes and empty cups and wrapping paper, and the mess had made her eye twitch. Luckily she had predicted the mess and her eye twitching, and had preliminarily invited Jake to come over and help out with the birthday party festivities. 

Once the kitchen was cleaned up, Amy leaned against the kitchen counter and peered into the living room, where Gabi and her friends were sitting in a circle on the floor, giggling around a game of Monopoly. She sighed wistfully as Jake sidled up next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. 

“You okay?” He asked.

Amy nodded, fiddling with the end of her sleeve. “It’s just crazy how fast she’s growing up. I can’t believe she’s  _ ten.  _ Next thing I know she’s going to be a teenager and she’s going to spend all of her time stealing cars and… and spray painting the sides of buildings!”

Jake’s brows furrowed. “What? Ames, have you ever actually met a teenager before?” He chuckled. “Were  _ you  _ ever actually a teenager?”

“ _ Yes, _ ” Amy retorted.

“Are you sure? I think you might have been born 50 years old.”

Amy laughed, and leaned into Jake, resting her head on his chest.

“But hey,” Jake began, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. “Gabi is an incredible kid. An incredible  _ person _ . She’s kind, and strong, and so smart. Like, definitely smarter than me. I’m sure it’s sad, and kind of scary, to watch her grow up, but just think of how much more amazing she’s going to grow to be.”

Amy nodded, at a temporary loss for words, and wrapped her arms around his waist as she blinked against the moisture in her eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Jake echoed, holding her tightly. 

“Oh yeah, Gabi wanted me to ask if you wanted to come over Wednesday night, on her actual birthday, for dinner and cake,” Amy said. 

“I would love to,” Jake smiled, kissing her quickly on the lips. 

Amy smiled back, knowing how excited Gabi was going to be. 

Wednesday rolled around, and the whole walk home from school, despite the bitter chill of wind that swirled around them, Gabi chattered enthusiastically about how her class had sang her happy birthday and had loved the cookies she brought to share with everyone. 

“I’m so glad you had a good birthday, baby,” Amy smiled as they finally stepped into the warmth of their apartment. 

“It was such a good day. And it’s going to get even better when Jake comes over!” Gabi exclaimed, bouncing on her toes as she hung her coat and scarf up on the hook by the door. “I’m going to go do my homework!”

Amy laughed as her daughter skipped happily to her bedroom. She wasn’t sure if Gabi had taken a breath the entire time she was talking, but she was glad to see her daughter so happy. 

After Gabi had finished her homework, and Amy had graded papers, the Chinese food they had ordered arrived, and Gabi insisted they take it out of the bag and set all the containers out, and set the table with plates and napkins. Amy obliged, and after the table was arranged to Gabi’s liking, it was 6 pm sharp, which was right when Jake was supposed to arrive.

The clock eventually changed to 6:10 pm, and although Gabi had been patiently waiting, the food was getting cold and she noticed the way her mom was nervously chewing her lip. 

“Is he coming?” Gabi asked quietly.

“Of course,” Amy said. “He’s probably just running a little late. Here, I’ll text him.”

Ten more minutes passed, and Jake hadn’t answered her text. Amy started getting anxious.  _ What if something happened to him? What if he forgot? What if he just decided not to come?  _ She shook her head suddenly, trying to rid herself of those thoughts, and decided to call him. He didn’t answer, much to both of the Santiagos’ dismay, so Amy left a quick voicemail. 

And another one, at 6:40, when a mixture of worry and disappointment hung in the air, a juxtaposition to the cheerful “Happy Birthday!” banner that hung in the kitchen. 

“The food is probably cold by now. How about we heat it up, and we can eat while we wait for him?” Amy offered, trying desperately to make her daughter, who had been eerily quiet, feel better.

“I’m not hungry,” Gabi declared. “And he’s probably not coming.”

“I’m sure he’s just running late-”

Gabi shook her head, and her eyes filled with tears before she buried her face in her hands and started crying.

“Oh, honey,” Amy frowned. “Come here, let’s sit on the couch.”

She gently wrapped an arm around her and led her to the living room, where they both collapsed onto the couch, Gabi falling into her mother’s arms and sobbing. 

Amy held her tightly and rubbed her back and let her cry into her shoulder.

“Is he going to leave like dad?” Gabi asked after a few minutes, looking up, and Amy’s heart dropped.

“No, baby. No, he would never do that,” She quickly responded, wiping tears off of Gabi’s cheeks.

“But how can you be sure?” Her daughter pressed, face crumpling again.

Fear from what Teddy had done suddenly wrapped around her heart, and she realized she couldn’t really be sure. So instead of an answer, she gently guided her daughter’s head back to her shoulder and stroked her dark hair. 

Twenty minutes later, just after 7, a somewhat frantic knock was pounded onto the door. 

“If that’s Jake, tell him I don’t want him to come in,” Gabi said, bundled under a blanket, and face now dry of tears but still full of utter sadness.

“Are you sure?” Amy asked, standing up to answer the door.

Gabi nodded, and Amy responded with a soft smile, and an, “Okay,” before walking to the door.

When she opened it, she found Jake, breathless as if he had been running, with a wild look in his eyes. 

“Ames, I’m so sorry, I can explain-” He began.

Upon realizing that he wasn't injured or terribly sick, all the fear that something terrible had happened to him vanished, only to be replaced by burning red anger.

She gave him a curt nod, gesturing for him to explain.

“We solved this case today, and I had to do a bunch of paperwork for it. My phone was dead, and I lost track of time and-” 

Amy let out an irritated breath. “That’s your excuse? Gabi has been crying for almost thirty minutes because she thought you weren’t coming.”

“What?” His face fell, and he tried to come in, but Amy put up a hand to stop him.

“She doesn’t want to see you right now. She’s devastated, Jake. I called you and texted you so many times.”

“I told you, my phone was dead, I’m so sorry-”

“You couldn’t have borrowed a charger from somebody? Or texted me from someone else’s phone? Half the squad has my number.”

Jake’s let out a defeated sigh and wiped a hand across his face. “God, you’re right. I was just so caught up with what I was doing I wasn’t thinking.”

Anger continued to coil in Amy’s stomach, and she clenched and unclenched her first at her side before she said, “Do you have any idea how heartbroken she is? She asked if you were going to leave like Teddy did. Now she’s remembering all the times he didn’t come for her birthdays or her soccer games or her spelling bees.” 

Jake straightened, frustration building as Amy continued to reject his apology. “You think I don’t know what that feels like? Need I remind you that I had a sucky dad too?”

“Which is exactly why I thought you wouldn’t do something like this!” Amy spat, voice rising in volume as the tension escalated. 

“I’m an hour late! That’s all!” Jake cried, arms flailing in exasperation. 

“An hour is a big deal to a ten year old! Especially a ten year old who has an absent father!” 

“But I’m here now! I’m not absent!”

“No, but you were irresponsible enough to bring back all those horrible memories for her! I was nervous about letting you into Gabi’s life, and this is exactly why!” Amy shouted.

“What are you saying? That it was a mistake letting me be in Gabi’s life?” Jake shouted back, a combination of mad and wounded.

“No, I wasn’t saying that. But now that you mention it, maybe it was!” Amy exclaimed, face red with fury.

Gina’s front door flew open at that moment, and they both turned to see her walking toward them, suddenly aware of how loud they had been.

“What the hell is going on?” She asked, eyebrows raised.

Neither Jake nor Amy knew how to answer, and they both gazed at the ground.

“Where’s Gabi?” Gina demanded, feeling a surge of protectiveness for her niece.

“Oh, God,” Amy muttered, the realization of the location and volume of their fight fully hitting her. “She’s on the couch.” 

Gina nodded, and made her way inside, and closed the door behind her. She found Gabi, who had started crying again, huddled underneath a blanket, plugging her ears. She wordlessly picked up the ten year old, who latched onto her aunt immediately, and carried her into her room, away from the fighting.

Silence had washed over Jake and Amy, until Jake spoke first.

“I can’t even see her? To apologize?” 

Amy shook her head. “She said she doesn’t want to see you. I’m going to respect her wishes.”

“But-”

“Jake, you  _ hurt her _ ,” Amy said through gritted teeth. “She’s hurt and upset and doesn’t want to see you. Quite frankly, I don’t want to either right now.” 

He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again, nodded, and turned to leave. When Amy stepped inside, she leaned against the door and let the tears that had suddenly sprang to her eyes fall down her cheeks. 

Gina walked out of Gabi’s room, sighing and pulling Amy into a hug. Thankful that her best friend let her cry in silence for a few minutes, Amy pulled back eventually, and gave Gina a weak smile and ran the backs of her hands across her damp face.

“Ames,” Gina said, motioning for them to sit on the couch. “What the hell was that all about?”

Amy took a deep, shaky breath, and explained what had happened, rambling at the end about how mad she was.

Gina listened the whole time, and once Amy finished her rant with a huff, Gina slowly nodded.

“Look, I totally get why you’re mad. I do. But Ames, Jake isn’t Teddy.”

Amy just looked at her, waiting for her to go on.

“I’m not saying what Jake did was cool, because it wasn’t. It’s not cool to be late for a kid’s birthday, especially Gabi. And honestly, it was kinda stupid of him to not use someone else’s phone to call you. But, he showed up. Teddy never did.”

“He showed up,” Amy repeated quietly, letting the words sink in.

“You have every right to be mad at him. But don’t be mad at him forever. He made a mistake, he didn’t walk out of your life,” Gina said.

Amy nodded, taking in Gina’s words. 

“I’m not saying you have to forgive him right this second. But maybe consider forgiving him sometime soon? You guys have a good thing going. Maybe he deserves a second chance,” Gina shrugged.

“Thank you, Gina,” Amy said, patting her hand.

“No prob. Hey, get some sleep, okay?”

Amy nodded, and stood to walk Gina out, but stopped halfway there.

“Is Gabi okay?” She asked.

“She was pretty upset, but she’ll be okay. Go talk to her,” Gina said. “Goodnight, Ames.”

Amy smiled at the kiss her friend blew her, and then closed the door behind her, making a mad dash toward Gabi’s room.

Gabi was sitting up in bed, nose stuck in a book, and still sniffing when Amy entered.

“Gabi, I am  _ so _ sorry. I’m so sorry you had to hear all of that. We shouldn’t have been fighting in front of you like that,” Amy apologized earnestly, guilt twisting in her gut as she sat on the edge of her daughter’s bed.

“It’s okay, Mom. I forgive you,” Gabi smiled.

“Are you okay?” Amy asked her, reaching over to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Tonight just… brought up a lot of memories of when Dad broke his promises. But I guess Jake did show up. I just wish he wouldn’t have been so late,” Gabi explained, placing a bookmark between the pages and shutting her book.

“I know, baby, me too. It’s okay to be upset about that.”

“Are you and Jake going to break up?” 

Amy softly shook her head. “No, we aren’t.” And although she wasn’t quite sure where they stood right now, she somehow knew that they weren’t going to let this end what they had. “We had a fight, and we need to talk about it. But we aren’t going to break up.”

“Good,” Gabi said. “I wouldn’t want you guys to break up. I like having Jake in my life. Even if he was late tonight. People make mistakes, sometimes, right?”

“Right.”

“And he wanted to be here, right?”

“Right,” Amy said again. “He apologized for being late, and I think he really did feel bad about it.”

Gabi paused thoughtfully, and then said, “Then I forgive him.”

Amy smiled at her daughter, at the forgiving spirit that she possessed, and kissed her forehead. “Do you want to eat some dinner now?”

Gabi nodded, and they enjoyed reheated Chinese food on the couch, and watched TV through still slightly red and swollen eyes, and both broken hearts slowly started to mend. 

The next day, Amy came back home after walking Gabi to school, and texted Jake, letting him know that she had gotten a substitute for her class for the first half of the day, and asked if they could meet at the coffee shop to talk. An immense amount of relief washed over her when he replied yes.

A few hours later, Amy stepped out of the cold January air and into the cozy coffee shop, giving Jake a nervous half wave when she spotted him at the table.

“I got you a hot chocolate, if that’s okay,” Jake told her, gesturing to a white paper cup across the table.

“Thank you,” Amy said, taking a seat and holding the warm cup to her freezing fingers. 

Neither of them said anything for a few moments, painfully awkward silence enveloping them, until they both started speaking at the same time.

“I’ll go. Please, let me go first,” Amy pleaded as they continued to stumble over each other’s voices.

Jake hesitated, but nodded. 

“I’m so sorry I was so harsh to you last night. It wasn’t great that you didn’t come on time, but I shouldn’t have gotten so mad. Seeing Gabi so upset just… triggered something within me. Some part of me that Teddy has forever left his mark on. But I shouldn’t have been so mean. I’m sorry,” Amy said.

“Ames,  _ I’m _ sorry. I was so irresponsible, and I wasn’t thinking last night. I’m not used to having anyone else who depends on me. For so long work was the most important thing in my life, but now you and Gabi are. And I let you both down, and it kills me to think about. The idea of making her cry…” Jake trailed off, looking down at his lap for a moment. “I shouldn’t have been late, and I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Jake. You still showed up, even if it was late. That’s more than I can ever say for Teddy,” Amy told him, reaching toward him so she could grab his hand and rub circles across the top of it. “I just… I don’t want anything like that to happen ever again.”

“It won’t,” Jake promised quickly. “So are we… okay?”

“We’re okay,” Amy confirmed. 

“Is  _ Gabi _ okay?” Jake asked, guilt filling his brown eyes.

“She’s okay, Jake. She told me last night that she forgives you,” She smiled.

“I don’t deserve that,” Jake mumbled.

“Hey, look at me,” Amy commanded gently. “You made a mistake, but you’re still an amazing person. And you’re amazing with Gabi. She loves you, Jake. I’ve made mistakes and disappointed Gabi before too. The thing that matters is that we keep showing up, and we keep loving her.”

“She’s the best. I can’t imagine not being a part of her life,” Jake said.

“Well, she’ll be happy to hear that tonight, when you come over for dinner?” Amy said, phrasing it as a question to seek his agreement. “Think of it as a birthday do-over. Gabi really wants you to celebrate with her.”

“I would love to,” Jake nodded.

“Good,” Amy smiled, bringing his hand to her lips so she could press a kiss on it. 

They both stood up, the need to go to work soon looming over them, and as they walked onto the sidewalk, Jake pointed out, “You know, I think this was our first fight.”

“Yeah, I guess it was. I didn’t like it.”

“I didn’t either. It was awful,” Jake agreed. “But you know what I think this means?”

“What?” Amy asked curiously, looping her arm through his and gazing up at him.

“It means we have something worth fighting for.”

Amy’s heart swelled, and she stopped abruptly, and threw her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug right in the middle of a Brooklyn sidewalk. Jake hugged her back just as tightly, and they stood there for several minutes, pressed tightly against each other, ignoring the annoyed scoffs of pedestrians that had to walk around them. Because in that moment, there weren’t any taxis honking their horns in the road, and there weren’t any people on the sidewalk, or any airplanes overhead, or any buildings around them. The world was just the two of them, for those few minutes that they were hugging.

Jake came over that night, on time, holding boxes of pizza, and sat down with Gabi, and apologized to her, explaining that he shouldn’t have been late, and that nothing like that would ever happen again. 

She told him that she forgave him, and as she threw her arms around his neck, she realized she believed him, in a way that she had never quite believed her Dad. She knew Jake was different.

Once everything was patched over, Jake felt like he could breathe again for the first time in 24 hours, and they all ate pizza and cake, the previous day already behind them.

And Jake was forever grateful that this mother and daughter had become the most important thing in his life

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it! I was pretty nervous about this chapter, and I know no one wants to see them fight, but I hope you all can understand why I did it! I felt that it was realistic for them to fight, especially about something like this. However I think this chapter also shows that they're serious about this relationship, and that they choose to forgive each other because they love each other so much. Thank you all so much for the support on this story!!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 11! I can't believe I only have one chapter left in this story :') I hope you all enjoy!

The icy New York winter had faded into a warm spring, and eventually a hot summer, and soon enough, school had started again and the air was on the brink of becoming autumn. 

Amy and Jake had been dating for almost a year, although to them it felt like they had been together for a lifetime. It was hard for them to imagine a life before each other- their lives intertwined so perfectly. It was like them being together just made sense.

Amy, and sometimes Gabi, continued to spend more time with Jake’s police squad. Gina also often came along to Captain Holt’s dinner parties and nights spent at Shaw’s. 

Gabi had started fifth grade, and Amy cried on the first day of school because she was growing up so fast, and although Jake teased her for it a little, he was secretly emotional as well that it was her last year of elementary school.

And most notably, one might even say miraculously, Jake had finally met Amy’s parents, back in the late winter, and it went remarkably well, albeit to Amy’s surprise. 

And it was a Tuesday night in September, just a few weeks away from their one year anniversary, when Jake decided he wanted to marry Amy.

Jake had been answering emails, and Amy had just finished grading her students’ math tests. She picked up that day’s edition of the New York Times, and flipped to the crossword puzzle. After a few minutes, she scoffed.

“There’s a typo in this crossword puzzle!” She exclaimed, shaking her head in a mixture of disbelief and disappointment. 

Jake glanced up from his computer and looked at her, the corners of his mouth turning up.

“Ames?” He asked. “Do you ever think about getting married?”

She turned to him, eyes a little wide in surprise, but nodded. “Yeah. All the time, actually.”

Jake just nodded slowly, his smile growing bigger. Amy smiled back, and they wordlessly went back to what they had been doing. 

It had been a brief exchange of words, but it was enough for Jake to start inconspicuously looking at rings online. He wasn't one hundred percent sure what it was about that moment with the crossword puzzle that made him so desperately want to marry her, he just suddenly  _ knew _ that Amy Santiago was who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

A few days later, Jake quietly opened the door with the key Amy had given him, and Gabi, who was reading a book on the couch, looked up in surprise.

“Jake! You’re early,” She glanced at the clock in the kitchen. “I thought you weren’t supposed to be here for another 30 minutes. Mom’s in the shower and we haven’t even ordered the pizza yet-”

“I know, I know,” Jake held up his hands. “Sorry about that but… I actually came early because I wanted to talk to you.”

“Really?”

Jake nodded, taking a seat next to Gabi as she closed her book. She looked at him curiously, waiting for him to start talking.

He took a deep breath, suddenly nervous, and said, “I want to ask your mom to marry me.”

Gabi gasped, hands flying up to her mouth as her eyes lit up in excitement. 

“But I wanted to make sure it was okay with you first.” Jake said. “I wouldn’t want to-”

“Yes!” Gabi squealed, cutting him off. “Yes! It’s more than okay! It’s… It would be…  _ amazing _ .”

“Yeah?” Jake spoke, letting out a little sigh of relief.

“Definitely. It would make my mom so happy. And me,” Gabi said, beaming. 

“Okay… Good,” Jake smiled. “I’m going to need your help though.”

“Of course,” Gabi quickly responded. “What do you need help with?”

“Well… I found some pictures of rings, but I’ll need your opinion on which one she would like the best. And I’ll need some ideas for the actual proposal. I want it to be special, and I think I want it to be on our one year anniversary.”

“That’s in a few weeks, right?”

“Yeah, so we’ll have to work pretty quickly but… I think we can do it.”

“I think so, too.” Gabi agreed. “We make a great team.”

They high-fived, and for the next fifteen minutes, they quietly brainstormed, and Gabi swiped through pictures of rings on Jake’s phone.

And just before Amy got out of the shower, they settled on a ring, and a proposal. 

“Mom, come here!” Gabi called from the living room. 

Amy came out of her room, hands behind her ear as she pushed the back of her earring on. 

Gabi looked at her mom, taking in her dress, which was a shade of royal blue, and her hair that had been spun into loose curls. Today was the day that Amy and Jake had officially been together for a year, which also meant it was the day that Jake and Gabi’s plan for the proposal was in full effect. 

Jake had told Amy that they had reservations for dinner, and it was up to Gabi to carry out the other part of the plan- the part where Amy would find out that there was, in fact, no reservations for dinner.

“You look really pretty,” Gabi told her.

“Thank you, baby. Did you need something?” Amy asked, running a hand through her daughter’s hair. 

“We have to go to the roof and look at the moon! There’s supposed to be a full one tonight, and it’s going to be so pretty,” Gabi said.

“Oh, honey, I wish I could. But Jake is supposed to be here any minute, and you should head to Gina’s now-”

“Please?” Gabi begged, giving Amy her best puppy dog eyes. “How many times in your life are you going to see a full moon?”

“Well, a lot, actually-” 

“But how often do you take the time to really  _ look _ at it?” 

“Okay, fine,” Amy said, finally caving. “But just for a minute.” 

Gabi nodded, unable to stop herself from breaking out into a huge smile. She was  _ so _ excited for what was about to happen, and it had been painful keeping it a secret from her mom the past few weeks. 

They both put shoes on, and made their way down the hall, and up the stairs that led to the flat roof of the apartment building. When Amy swung open the door, she gasped.

Candles were scattered everywhere, glowing brightly against the post-sunset darkness, and there was a path of red rose petals, and at the end of it, was Jake.

“Hey, Ames,” He said simply, standing still amongst the candle light in a black suit.

Amy’s mouth was open in shock, and she turned back to her daughter, who was leaning against the door.

“There’s no full moon?”

Gabi laughed. “There was a full moon two weeks ago. I just needed a way to get you to come to the roof.”

“So this is… You knew about this?” Amy asked, a smile spreading across her face.

Gabi shrugged mysteriously. “Maybe.”

Amy still stood there by the door, hands beginning to shake, until she felt a gentle push on her back. 

“Go ahead,” Gabi whispered.

“Oh. Right,” Amy said, shaking her head to snap herself out of her state of surprise. 

She walked through the rose petals, and up to Jake. 

“Hi,” He breathed.

“Hi.”

Jake pulled a black box out of his jacket, and slowly got down on one knee. Amy’s eyes filled with tears, and she clutched her hands to her chest, heart beating wildly. 

“Amy,” He began. “From the moment I met you, I knew you were someone special. And not only are you someone special, but you’re special to me. You’re smart, and kind, and hardworking, and this past year with you has been a dream come true. I want to keep living in this dream. So…” He opened the box, revealing a gold ring with two small and sparkling diamonds. “Amy Santiago, will you marry me?”

“Jake Peralta, I will marry you,” Amy responded, happy tears streaming down her face. 

He slid on the ring, and immediately stood up to kiss her. After they broke apart, they wrapped each other in a tight hug, smiling widely and mumbling “I love you’s” a bit breathlessly into each other’s shoulders, all while the yellow light from the candles danced almost magically across their faces.

Gabi gave them a few more minutes by themselves, and then ran over to them, joining in on the hug. 

After a few more minutes of pure joy and hugging, Jake said, “Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Instead of us going out to dinner, I brought the dinner to us.”

He gestured to the left, where a table and three chairs that Amy hadn’t even noticed before, was waiting for them. There was a bag of takeout from their favorite Italian restaurant, a stack of plates and silverware, and a bouquet of tulips in a vase on the table. 

“Jake,” Amy began, looking into his eyes as she felt the sting of tears in her throat once more. “I can’t believe you did all this for me.”

“You deserve it all, Ames. And so much more,” He told her earnestly, dropping another kiss to her lips. 

“...The food is going to get cold,” Gabi piped up suddenly.

Jake and Amy laughed, but were in agreement. 

“Let’s eat,” Jake declared, leading them over to the table and pulling out two chairs for Amy and Gabi to sit on. 

They sat beneath the blanket of night sky, and ate and laughed and talked, all three of them bursting with pure happiness. 

And when the soft breeze blew in just the right direction, the light from the candles would kiss Amy’s ring, causing it to shimmer brightly. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Jake and Amy are engaged! I definitely took a little bit of inspiration from the proposal on the show for this chapter, because there were just certain moments that I thought were so perfect, and I wanted to include them. Thank you all so much for reading and for your support! Just one chapter left to go!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! I can't believe this story is officially over. I really hope you all love this last chapter!

In the months following Jake and Amy’s engagement, their lives were filled with wedding planning.

Binders organized perfectly with cascading tabs were always covering Amy’s kitchen table. Conversations mostly revolved around wedding venues, and bridesmaids’ dresses, and what napkins looked best with the tablecloths, and what flavor cake they should get, and who should sit where. Jake had been shocked at the amount of details and decisions that went into planning a wedding, but if staring at eight different shades of beige napkins that all looked exactly the same for an hour meant he got to marry Amy Santiago, he was happy to do it. 

After nearly a year of planning, the day of the wedding arrived. It was a warm June day, a perfect mix of sunny and breezy, and Amy gasped as she walked into the venue, Gina and Gabi close behind her.

Jake and Amy had chosen a venue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, that was a rope factory in the pre World War II era, and had since been transformed into a place for events. The floor was wooden, as was the tall ceiling, and the walls were covered in brick. It was the perfect amount of space for the ceremony and the reception.

Amy and her two bridesmaids stopped to admire how nicely everything had been set up by the wedding coordinators that had been hired to set up and take down. To the left, there were rows of chairs facing the spot where Jake and Amy would say their vows, with a space in between to make an aisle. To the right were round tables covered in tablecloths that were a light dusty-rose color, set beautifully with plates and silverware, and surrounded by wooden chairs. Golden string lights hung from the ceiling, as did faux ivy, and vases of white baby’s breath flowers sat in the middle of each table. And further left, a space was left empty to act as the dance floor.

Gabi came up beside Amy, grabbing her arm excitedly and squealing in delight. “Mom, it looks  _ so _ good!” She exclaimed.

“It’s perfect,” Amy breathed, already having to hold back tears.

“Okay, yeah, no crying yet. 12 pm is too early in the day to be crying,” Gina said. “It does look good though.”

After walking around to admire everything, and profusely thank the coordinators who were still setting up the long tables for the food, Amy led Gina and Gabi into the room where they would be getting ready.

“So, are you nervous?” Gina asked after they had settled in, patting an eyeshadow brush against Amy’s eyelid. 

“Aunt Gina!” Gabi chastised. “I told you not to ask her that. Now she is going to be nervous.”

Amy chuckled softly. “I’m fine, I promise. I know that I want to marry Jake more than anything else in the world. Nothing really to be nervous about.”

“What if you fall walking down the aisle?” Gina asked this time, a slight smirk coming across her face.

“Stop causing trouble!” Gabi scolded, frowning.

“Alright, alright, I’m kidding,” Gina held up her hands in defense. “You’re gonna do great, Ames. And you’re going to look gorgeous. I’m really happy for you.”

Amy felt a lump in her throat, and thanked her in a choked voice. 

Gina sighed. “Okay, seriously, no crying until you actually get married.” She held a tissue under Amy’s eyes until the sheen of tears disappeared, and went back to work on her makeup. 

A few hours later, after all three of them had makeup and hair done, they changed into their dresses. Gina and Gabi had floor length, halter bridesmaid dresses, in the same rose shade as the tablecloths. After they put the dresses on and looked in the mirror and gushed over how pretty the shade of pink was, they helped Amy step into her dress.

When they zipped it up and she turned to face them, a hush fell over the room as Gabi and Gina beamed at Amy, taking in how beautiful she looked. 

Her eyeshadow, shades of rose gold, made her eyes pop, and her hair fell in soft curls around her shoulders. Her dress was simple, yet elegant- white, an A-line V neck, with a pleated skirt that flowed down to the floor. 

“ _ Please _ don’t cry when I say this because I literally just did your makeup,” Gina started, “But you look so beautiful. Like, for reals beautiful.”

Gabi nodded enthusiastically. “Mom, you’re the prettiest bride ever. I can’t wait for Jake to see you.”

Amy smiled widely, pulling both of them in for a hug. “Thank you guys so much, for everything. I love you.”

Captain Holt was waiting at the end of the aisle with Jake and his groomsmen, Terry and Charles, when it was finally time for the ceremony to start. Gina and Gabi walked down the aisle together first, arms hooked together, each carrying a bouquet of white flowers. Jake smiled at them, waiting in anticipation for Amy.

When she stepped out and started making her way down the aisle, Jake’s breath hitched. He felt like he was in a dream, with all the glowing lights and the melodic instrumentals playing through the speakers, and now with the most stunning woman he had ever seen walking toward him. 

He felt his jaw drop slightly as she walked closet, and he immediately held her hand and kissed it when she stood across from him at the end of the aisle. 

“You look so beautiful,” Jake whispered.

Amy squeezed his hand tightly, smiling at him with adoration. 

“Hello. Today we all come together to witness the joining of Amy Santiago and Jacob Peralta in marriage,” Captain Holt began from where he stood behind Jake and Amy, facing the crowd. “Jake, Amy, I understand you have vows that you have prepared.”

Jake nodded, grabbing the rings from Charles and handing one to Amy. 

Amy took a deep breath, still holding one of her hands in Jake’s. “Jake. As you know, I’m someone who likes to plan things. I know that’s kind of stating the obvious, with the amount of binders we’ve gone through while planning this wedding…” She trailed off, earning a laugh from the guests, all sitting down and watching intently. “The point is, you came into my life completely unplanned. I wasn’t actively looking for a relationship, and I usually don’t do well when things are surprising. But being with you has been one of the easiest things I’ve ever done. You understand me, and you love me, and because of you and your kindness, I’ve learned to appreciate the unexpected more. I didn’t used to believe in soulmates, but then I met you randomly on a sidewalk and we ended up falling in love, and now I think it’s crazy to  _ not _ believe in soulmates. I love you, and I can’t wait for our unplanned forever.”

Jake squeezed Amy’s hand this time, not trusting himself to speak right away without having a ridiculously shaky voice.

“Amy,” He began after taking a breath. “I could never fully put into words how much I love you, and how grateful I am for you, but I guess I’m going to try,” He chuckled. “For so many of my adult years, I didn’t have a family to come home to after work. I was fine with that, but when I met you and Gabi, I realized how much I had been missing out on. There are so many small moments that have quickly become my favorite things. Eating dinner together, and watching movies together, and getting ice cream together are the best parts of my week. You, me, and Gabi are a family. This family means the world to me. Ames, I’m so excited for a lifetime spent with you. I promise it’s going to be great, and I promise I will love you with every single thing I have.”

Both Jake and Amy had to break apart their conjoined hands to wipe tears from their face, grinning and gazing deeply into each other’s eyes.

“Do you, Amy, take Jake to be your lawfully wedded husband?” Captain Holt spoke.

“I do,” Amy nodded, as Jake slipped the ring onto her finger.

“And do you, Jake, take Amy to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do,” Jake said, smiling as Amy took his hand and slid the ring on.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride,” Captain Holt declared.

Jake and Amy met in a kiss, Jake’s hands gently gripping her waist, and Amy’s hands coming up to softly press against the sides of his face.

Everyone cheered, and the now husband and wife broke apart, laughing joyfully through tears, before walking back down the aisle, hands held tightly together.

After the wedding party posed for dozens of pictures, dinner was served, and Jake and Amy sliced the cake, which was frosted white and decorated in pink roses. 

As all the guests were sitting and enjoying their cake, one of the wedding coordinators handed Gabi a microphone, and let her know it was time for her speech. She nodded, taking the folded piece of paper with her speech on it from her purse and smoothing it out, before standing up.

“Hi,” Gabi spoke into the microphone, gathering the attention of everyone. “My name is Gabi, I’m the bride’s daughter,” She said, gesturing to Amy, who was sitting down next to her. She looked down at her paper, and began. “As most of you know, I never really had a dad growing up. Biologically I have a father, but I never had a dad in the way that really mattered. But then Jake started dating my mom, and he started spending time with me, and for the first time ever, I know what it’s like to have a dad. Jake listens to everything I have to say, and takes me to the library, and sings Taylor Swift with me, and comforts me when I’m upset. And he makes my mom really happy, and all I’ve ever wanted was to see my mom be really happy,” She turned sideways to face Jake. “Jake, thank you for being a dad to me. Thank you for taking care of my mom and I. Mom, I can’t explain how happy I am for you. Thank you for being the best mom I could ever ask for. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness, and I’m really glad we’re a family” She concluded, passing the microphone back to the coordinator. 

Amy and Jake both stood up to pull her into a tight hug, and as Jake looked around, he realized there wasn’t a dry eye to be found. Even Rosa was trying to inconspicuously wipe underneath her eyes. 

“We love you, baby,” Amy murmured against Gabi’s head, and Jake nodded in agreement.

A family indeed.

After a long night of dancing, most of the guests were starting to leave, and after Jake and Amy said goodbye to everyone and thanked them all for coming, Amy and Gabi went off to the dressing room to gather all of their stuff, and Captain Holt who was walking out with Kevin, pulled Jake aside before he left.

“Peralta, I just wanted to say how immensely happy I am for you. Amy is wonderful, as is her daughter. I can tell how much joy they have brought to your life. So, congratulations,” Holt told him.

“Thank you so much, sir,” Jake said, as they shook hands.

“Goodnight, Jake.”

“Goodnight, sir,” Jake smiled, touched by the rare heartfelt moment from his captain.

Just as he was headed down the hall to find Amy and Gabi, they walked out toward him, carrying bags of makeup and clothes.

“Ah, there are my two favorite girls,” Jake said when he spotted them. “You ready to go home?”

Amy and Gabi both nodded sleepily, but with an elated look that had not left their faces all day. 

So the three of them walked to the car so they could go home, to Amy’s apartment, which would soon become  _ their _ apartment, once all the boxes of Jake’s stuff that were currently stacked in the living room got unpacked.

To anyone watching them as they got into the car and pulled down the street, it would just look like they were headed home. 

But to them, they were headed toward the rest of their life.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I wanted to say that the wedding venue I describe in this chapter is actually a real place I found while researching wedding venues in Brooklyn, New York. It's called the Greenpoint Loft, and it's so pretty! I saw pictures and thought it would be a perfect place for Jake and Amy to have their wedding. 
> 
> Second of all... WOW. I can't believe this story is over. Writing this the past few months has been such a gratifying experience. It's been so fun to create a story based off of these two characters that I love so much. Thank you SO much to every single person that has read this story, left kudos, or left a comment. It means so much to me. Writing is something I have loved since I was little, and getting to share my writing with other people has been really special. Also special thank you to my mom and sister for being so supportive of this story and reading every chapter :,)
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and this whole journey with Jake and Amy and Gabi.


End file.
